People of all ages are invited to spend a day in the Flint Hills for free range music and fun at WoodFest. Symphony in the Flint Hills will host this sixth-annual event on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at Camp Wood YMCA in Elmdale, Kansas.
“Each spring, Symphony in the Flint Hills wows large audiences with the work of professional musicians, seasoned cowboys and skilled artists,”said Christy Davis, executive director of Symphony in the Flint Hills. “At our fall event, WoodFest allows people of all ages and skill levels to participate in their own prairie experience by making music, riding horses and creating art.”
WoodFest is a music-based weekend gathering. Professional musicians, including Grammy-award winners Eugene Friesen and Howard Levy, and Kansas recording artists Richard Crowson and Wayne Gottstine of Split Lip Rayfield, will teach players of all ages, instruments and experiences in dozens of music workshops ranging from introductory to advanced sessions in guitar, string, percussion, brass, woodwinds, voice and improvisation. There are several options available for children seven and younger. Participants can bring their own instruments or borrow instruments provided by Flint Hills Music.
Participants can also enjoy nature walks, horseback riding, painting, art and cowboy poetry surrounded by Camp Wood YMCA’s 630 acres of Tallgrass Prairie.
For the finale of the daylong event, WoodFest moves to a hilltop amphitheater for the popular Sunset Concert. The concert will feature cellist Eugene Friesen, harmonica and piano virtuoso Howard Levy, violinist John Harrison, vocalist Karla Burns, Kenny White on mandolin and the Prairie Fire String Orchestra. The weekend closes Sunday, September 25 with an intimate Sunrise Concert as Friesen plays a final moving tribute to the weekend’s host, the Flint Hills.
An individual pass for WoodFest costs $40 and includes all of the workshops and activities (horseback riding is an additional $10 for ages 6 and under, $20 for ages 7 and older), three meals and the Sunset and Sunrise concerts. Up to four friends or family members (with one adult) is $65 and a group of up to eight is $100. For $40, the public can join participants for dinner at 5:15 p.m. and receive admission to the concert from 7 to 9 p.m. Residents of Chase and Morris Counties can attend for free –first come, first served –and should call 620-273-8955 to reserve their space.
For more information and to register, visit www.WoodFestKS.org, call 620-273-8955 or email woodfest@symphonyintheflinthills.org.