Online Folk Concerts

updated 3/18/24

During the COVID19 pandemic starting March 2020, many venues and performers offered online concerts, either ticketed or free for viewing with donation requested.  As the pandemic eased and  in-person performances returned, the online offerings became fewer, but there are still opportunities for either online-only or hybrid (streaming from an in-person performance).   

Some offer archives of past performances (or recordings available for a short period of time after the performance), while others offer realtime-only viewing.  

Most are free to view (typically with donations requested); others require the purchase of a ticket.

This page lists concerts only - online workshops, hosted jams, online sings, interviews, and online dance series will be documented elsewhere.  

US

• Passim (Cambridge MA)
  shows typically start at 5pm PT and are live-streamed only (no recording available)
  Tickets for Live Stream go on sale starting about 2 weeks before the date, and are a reasonable $5; an annual membership gives you access to all concerts.

• Doug Plummer in Seattle streams his house concerts on Facebook & YouTube. Previous concerts available on YouTube.  Donations requested.

• Abbie Weisenbloom house concerts in Portland OR are available as streamed; typically 7:30pm PT.  Previous concerts available on YouTube.  Donations requested.

• Old Songs (Voorheesville NY)
  Hybrid -held in person and live-streamed on YouTube. Previous concerts available on YouTube.
  You can purchase a ticket in advance ($10 suggested), or make donations during or after the concert.

• Jay Ungar and Molly Mason "The Quiet Room"
  Almost every Wednesday at 5pm PT, Jay & Molly perform from their living room on Facebook.
  During the summer, when the Askokan music camps are happening, the concert is streamed instead from camp with various camp instructors performing.
  Recordings available.

•  Muddy Rudder Down Home Music Hour (Portland OR):   Whiskey Deaf (Annie Staninec & John Kael plus occasional guests) play bluegrass and oldtime on Facebook
  almost every Thursday 7pm PT.   Dan Compton & Fran  Slefer (formerly of Portland OR, now living in Amsterdam)  play Irish music occasional Sunday afternoons.    Recordings available. 

• Freight & Salvage (Berkeley CA)
  Very rarely streams now - typically only sold out concerts or special events like memorials. The calendar will indicate "LIVESTREAM AVAILABLE". After purchasing a ticket, you will receive a private YouTube link. Typically the recording is available a week or two afterwards. Some past performances archived on YouTube.

• Hyde St Pier (SF Maritime National Historical Park & SF Maritime Association)
  presents occasional sea music concerts (as well as a monthly virtual chantey sing). Donations requested. Recordings of both the concerts and the virtual chantey sing are available on vimeo.

• Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festival (Portsmouth NH) - September
  The 2021 festival was online; the 2022 festival was hybrid; recordings of 2023 (live) available. Recordings available on YouTube.

• Berkeley Old Time Music Convention - September
  Some concerts streamed in realtime from the Freight.  Recordings available on YouTube.  Donations requested.
  2020 - was online only
  2021 - was hybrid
  2022 - mostly in person, except Freight concerts and 2 special workshops (Alice Gerrard & Earl White)  were streamed and are available for viewing
  2023 - Freight concerts were streamed and are available for viewing

• Portland Old Time Music Gathering - January
  See also the old website and Facebook page
  2021 was online; 2022 & 2023 concerts were streamed
  Recordings available on YouTube.

• University of Chicago Folk Festival (February)
  Streamed on Facebook and YouTube.
  Recordings available.

• Caffe Lena (Saratoga Springs NY)
  Many concerts streamed; ticket required
  Also Stay Home Sessions (2020)

• Young Tradition Festival  (end of the first full week in May in Burlington, VT) was hybrid in 2023 (with guests La Famille LeBlanc) - recordings on YouTube.  Genticorum will be the guests for the 2024 edition May 10-12 2024.

• Smithsonian Folklife Festival (end June/beg July)
  Streamed on YouTube
  Recordings available.

• Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington DC)
  Only a handful of folk acts in the mix. Recordings available
  https://www.kennedy-center.org/digitalstage/
  https://www.kennedy-center.org/whats-on/millennium-stage/
  https://www.youtube.com/@kennedycenter

• Folklife Concerts from the Library of Congress (hybrid; streamed on YouTube)
  Some recordings available (mostly snippets or interviews)
  https://www.loc.gov/events/concerts-from-the-library-of-congress/folklife-concerts/
  
  
  

NO LONGER ACTIVE

• Quarantine Happy Hour Video Archive - No longer active
  A pandemic project which streamed a concert on Facebook nearly every night between April 2020 and July 2021.  Mostly oldtime.  Check out the comments.

• San Francisco Free Folk Festival was online 2020, 2021, & 2022.    Live events (on Zoom) were not recorded, but most pre-recorded concerts are still available (either Facebook or YouTube) - click the appropriately colored event on the schedule of the appropriate year.

• El Cerrito  Free Folk Festival was online 2020 & 2021.    Live events (on Zoom) were not recorded, but most pre-recorded concerts are still available (either Facebook or YouTube) - click the appropriately colored event on the schedule of the appropriate year.

• Lark Camp - Cabaret & Virtual Lark Camp  concerts - No longer active (though Virtual Lark Camp itself continues every  February with online workshops & sessions)
  During the pandemic, Lark Camp streamed several Lark Camp Cabaret shows on YouTube. These consisted of pre-recorded videos that were combined into a single show.  There were also several concerts streamed as part of the first Virtual Lark Camp. These recordings are still available on YouTube.

• NEFFA (New England Folk Festival Association) - Boston area April
  online in 2020, 2021 & 2022
  also Monthly online concert series in 2022
  and Ralph Page Virtual Weekend 2022
  Archived on vimeo

• Black Isle Music - Becky Tracy & Keith Murphy (Brattleboro VT)
  YouTube channel contains recordings of:
  2022 Northern Roots Festival in-person concerts
  2020/2021 Keith & Becky online concerts 

• Pete's Posse  - Pete Sutherland (RIP), Tristan Henderson, Oliver Scanlon - Vermont
  Online concerts available on YouTube.

• Ripton Community Coffee House (Ripton VT).   on YouTube. Recordings available.  Most recent (hybrid) concert was June 2023, so I suspect they are no longer offering online.

• Secret Chord Concerts (Jewish music) - Jan 2022 through Nov 2022.  No longer active.
  Presented by the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
  Donations requested
  Recordings on vimeo.

• fiddle-online.com (Ed Pearlman)
  Scottish, Shetland, Cape Breton, Brazilian, Klezmer fiddle concerts streamed during 2021
  Recordings available on YouTube
  donations requested

• Santa Barbara Old-Time Fiddlers' Festival
  2020 online concerts & workshops available on YouTube.

• California Bluegrass Association
  produced 2 big online events:
  Turn Your Radio Online May-June 2020 (in place of Fathers Day Festival)
  Jam-a-Thon - Jan 2021. 50+ hours of continuous live music, workshops, and jams, (in place of Great 48). Benefit for the CBA’s Youth Programs .
  Recordings available on YouTube

• Susquehanna Folk Music Society Harrisburg PA
  streamed online concerts & workshops in 2020 & 2021
  Recordings available on YouTube

• Florida State Fiddler's Convention - October
  2021 was hybrid
  Recordings available on Facebook.

• Festival of Texas Fiddling - December
  2020 was online
  2021 was hybrid
  Recordings available on YouTube.

• Upper Potomac Music Weekends (Fiddle, Pipes, Dulcimer) - Maryland
  2021 & 2022 online concerts
  Recordings available on YouTube.

CANADA

• Gaelic College  Colaisde na Gàidhlig (Saint Annes, Cape Breton, NS) ceilidh every Wed 3:30pm PT on Facebook.
  Past recordings available on Facebook. Donations requested.

• Celtic Colours (Cape Breton) - October
  streams one selected concert each night on YouTube during the festival in October. Donations requested.
  Prior to 2020, each evening's recording was available on YouTube until the next night.
  In 2023, recordings were available on YouTube until the end of October.
  Snippets of previous performances available on YouTube.

NO LONGER ACTIVE

• Gatineau Hills (Chelsea QC) - October
  Recordings of 2020 online concerts and 2021 online concerts on YouTube.

UK

• Live to Your Living Room
  Most  concerts start at 8pm GMT (12pm PT), and cost about $21 (16.50 pounds) with options to pay less or pay more.
  on Zoom
  real time only (no recordings)

• Folkscape Live
  Monthly concerts, as well as special events such as Sidmouth Folk Festival
  Tickets required (some at Set Your Own Price)
  Account required
  Recordings available

• Shrewsbury Folk Festival (last weekend in August)
  streams the 2 mainstages every year (subject to artist approval).
  Recordings on their YouTube channel ; it can take several months for new videos to appear - for example, Aug 2023 videos were posted in December.
  Free to view. During the festival, they collect for charity.

• Edinburgh Folk Club
  streams most of their performances on Facebook. Wednesdays at 8PM GMT (12pm PT).
  Recordings available on Facebook.

• Folk on Foot podcast
  In each episode, Matthew Bannister walks with a leading folk artist in the landscape that has inspired their music and they sing and play on location. 
  Started in 2018 (pre-pandemic)

• International Concertina Association
  World Concertina Day Feb 2022 & Feb 2023 concerts (collections of submitted videos edited together) on YouTube.  Details on the ICA website for 2022 and 2023.

• Phoenix Folk  presents monthly online concerts of musicians from the North East of England on Zoom - select An Evening With.. from the Participate Online menu.  Recordings available on the same page (some on YouTube, some MP4).  Donations requested. They also offer online tune and song sessions and the Playalong Series (available for purchase).  

• Dougie MacLean does frequent live streamed concerts on Facebook , YouTube and Vimeo (the latter two using the name Butterstone Studios) Most are free, though a few are ticketed.  Archives available.

NO LONGER ACTIVE

• Falcon House Concerts (UK)
  Some of these were done in partnership with several US organizations (Old Songs, Baltimore Folk Society, and Folklore Society of Greater Washington)
  Ran from Sept 2020 to March 2023:
  All the concerts are available as MP4 downloads.
  One of the Martin Carthy concerts was also streamed from the Library of Congress Homegrown Concert series.

IRELAND

• The national Fleadh Cheoil competitions, which happen annually in August, are streamed on Facebook and TG4 Player Live.
  Recordings are available.

• TG4 is the National Irish language Public Service TV Broadcaster. Many concerts and shows of traditional music can be viewed on the TG4 mobile app, available for iOS  and Android.  Most of these are in Irish, but subtitles can be enabled.   Some programs may be geographically-restricted, but I have rarely encountered this.

NO LONGER ACTIVE

• Frank Harte Festival (traditional song, September, Dublin)
  2020 & 2021 were streamed and recordings available on YouTube.

• Baltimore Fiddle Fair  (May, Baltimore, County Cork)
  2020 was virtual; recordings on YouTube.

OTHER COUNTRIES

• The Irish Festival of Oulu (Finland, October) presented a virtual Irish festival in November 2020.  Recordings on YouTube.   Of special note are appearances of Paddy Maloney (a few months before he passed away) and Caitlín Nic Gabhann & Ciarán O Maoinaigh with their energetic and entertaining toddlers.