Logo: Susquehanna Folk Music Society
Presenting fine traditional arts in Central Pennsylvania since 1985

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Fri, August 8 - American Patchwork Quartet at Mt Gretna

American Patchwork Quartet at Mt Gretna Mt Gretna
The American Patchwork Quartet puts a fresh, personalized spin on traditional folk songs, using storytelling to bring timeless tunes to life in new ways. Their unique performance will change the way you think about traditional music. $5 tickets: an amazing deal! Outdoor concert on Friday, August 8 at Mt Gretna Playhouse. MORE

Sat, August 9 - Apprenticeship Celebration

Apprenticeship Celebration Apprenticeship Celebration Camp Hill
Join us for performances, demonstrations, and stories shared by this year’s SFMS/PCA Traditional Arts apprentices and the master artists who mentored them. Sean-nós singing, Nepali harmonium, Irish flute and concertina: sounds like fun! This event is part of our “Bringing It Home” series, presented by our Susquehanna Folk Arts Center. Sunday, August 6 at Fredricksen Library. MORE

Fri, August 15 - Cumberland Honey: Sunset Music

Cumberland Honey: Sunset Music Harrisburg
SFMS presents local band Cumberland Honey as part of Fort Hunter Park’s “Sunset Music and Movies” series. Sweet harmonies with folk influences, soul and a taste of bluegrass from the heart of Cumberland County, PA. Their original songs weave stories of life, love and a call to social action. Rain date August 17th. Friday evening, August 15 at Fort Hunter Park.

Sat, August 23 - Volunteer Appreciation Picnic

Volunteer Appreciation Picnic Harrisburg
All Susquehanna Folk volunteers, past and future, are invited to a cookout potluck with live musical entertainment by SFMS Board members! Saturday, August 23 at Fort Hunter Park, West Pavilion. MORE

Sat, August 30 - Swing Dance Classes at Mt Gretna

Swing Dance Classes at Mt Gretna Swing Dance Classes at Mt Gretna Mt Gretna
Carla Crowen of The Rhythm Lounge will be teaching swing dance classes for all levels, starting at 5pm. Dust off those shoes and get ready to dance in the aisles! Tuba Skinny concert is SOLD OUT! Tuba Skinny doesn’t just play music; they transport listeners to the heart of New Orleans — a city pulsing with life, with an unparalleled influence on American music and a profound love for its musical roots. They play jazz, ragtime, jug band and string band tunes, country blues and more. Swing dance classes and outdoor concert on Saturday, August 30 at Mt Gretna Playhouse. MORE

Fri, September 12 - The Kathleen Parks Band

The Kathleen Parks Band York
This fiddler, singer, and songwriter brings joyful and creative energy to the stage and studio. Her writing leans toward pop, folk, and classic jazz, while her virtuosic fiddle blends and reimagines traditional and modern musical styles with boundless groove, and a playful improvisational spirit. Concert on Friday, September 12 at UUCY. MORE
Show more events

Field & Folk 2025

our fourth annual Harvest Dinner
Saturday, September 27
at Beshore Hill Farm

Get the details
A view of the dining table at our 2022 Harvest Dinner

delicious hyper-local foods

The menu, curated by Farm to Belly, features an onsite pig roast (veggie entree too) and an abundance of fresh-from-the-field veggies.

and live music by Barkley Cove

Barkley Cove

Barkley Cove is the band to watch in the new folk scene. Founded on collaborative songwriting, strong vocal harmony, and improvisation, the four members of the band fearlessly mix genres of folk, rock, country, and bluegrass to create a distinctively original musical style.

In 2024, Barkley Cove received the Spot Award for Best Collegiate Band from the Central Pennsylvania Music Awards. As their reach expands up and down the East Coast, their imaginative songwriting and dedicated musicianship continues to push the boundaries of folk music.

Get tickets now!

Get Our Emails

* indicates required
Subscription Options (see details)

* While giving your name is not REQUIRED, it is APPRECIATED. We are real people, and we’d love to get to know you!

Pennsylvania Relief Sale Quilt Auction

In this Folk Artist spotlight, we visit the Pennsylvania Relief Sale, a quilt auction that supports humanitarian work around the globe. More than just a fundraiser, it’s a family-friendly event centered around one of the most enduring cultures in our region.

An applique quilt showing a colorful array of tulips in a wooden cart or buggy. A bluebird perches on the cart’s handle.
This cheerful wall hanging won "Best in Show" at this year's Pennsylvania Relief Sale

For anyone who loves quilts and other handwork, the annual Pennsylvania Relief Sale is a must. A cultural staple in our region since 1957, it reflects generations of Central PA traditions of handwork, foodways, gardening, games, and music.

Besides the exhibition and auction of quilts, the event features food, live choral music, a plant sale, quilting supplies, and the contagious joy of quilt enthusiasts in a creative calico wonderland.

What began on a farm in Berks County, now fills all 172,000 square feet of the Giant Exposition Hall at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg. Next year's sale — April 2026 — is their 70th sale, and it's well worth marking your calendar now!

A montage of six quilt patterns. Top left is two squares of Veggie Cats: an orange cat curled in the shape of a pumpkin, and a maroon cat curled in the shape of an eggplant. Top center has blue swirls like cresting waves between long-pointed stars. Top right is a crazy quilt, with various shapes sewn together and ornately embroidered.

photos by Amy Skillman

The quilts showcase a wide variety of designs and techniques, from patchwork to applique to embroidery.
Read more about the Pennsylvania Relief Sale...
See more Folk Artist Spotlights
The board and staff of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society are committed to celebrating and affirming diverse cultures through programming which explores the music, dance, craft and stories of many people. We stand in complete solidarity with the Black community and all marginalized communities to speak out against injustice, bigotry and racial violence.
Dom Flemons, a thirty-something Black man holds a battered guitar, wearing an old-fashioned hat and shirt with suspenders, and round-rimmed spectacles.
Closeup of a Black woman’s hands stitching small hexagons of colored calico into a flower. In her lap is a clear bag holding several finished flowers.
Two Hispanic men with dark skin pose with large Puerto Rican drums in front of a Puerto Rican flag. They wear white shirts and trousers, and white hats with black bands. They are also holding other percussion instruments, including maracas and a basketball-sized shaker covered with colorful fishnet.
A head-and-shoulders portrait of Sug Daniels. She is a young black woman with a strong, direct gaze. She has thick arched eyebrows, a broad nose with a stud on one side, very full lips, and medium-brown skin. She is wearing a black hat with a broad brim, tilted up, so all we see is a wide black disc behind her head. The photo is cropped so the edge of the hat almost doesn’t show. She also has a red bandanna wrapped around her head, with an inch or so showing beneath the hat brim.
Crys Matthews, a young Black woman, wears a crisp white button-down men’s shirt, black tie and black suspenders. She has her thumbs underneath the suspender straps, pulling them up off her shoulders. Her curly hair is long on top and cropped close at the sides.
Celebrated singer and songwriter Crys Matthews, winner of the International Folk Music Awards 2022 for her song “Changemakers,” has already been hailed as “the next Woody Guthrie.” Her songs of compassionate dissent reflect her lived experience as what she lightheartedly calls “the poster-child for intersectionality.” [2022 Susquehanna Folk Festival]