Festival FAQ

Check out the Festival Home page to get started with when, where, and what to expect.

Festival hours:
Friday: 7pm – 11:30pm
Saturday: 10am - 11:30pm
Sunday: 10am – 5:30pm

Doors open an hour before the program starts.

Tickets are on sale now! Get yours at tickets.neffa.org
Advance tickets will only be sold for the full Festival. Individual session tickets can only be purchased at the ticket table at the Festival.

Advance tickets typically go on sale in late February to early March. Visit the Advance tickets page for more information. Members get discounted tickets! Become a member or join our mailing list The NEFFA Loop to receive news and updates.

What are Sessions and session tickets?

If you can't attend the whole festival, you can get a ticket for one or more sessions.

The hours for session tickets are as follows:
Friday: 19:00 – 23:30
Saturday Day: 10:00 – 17:30
Saturday Evening: 16:00 – 23:30
Sunday: 10:00 – 17:30

Doors open one hour before each session.

Festival performers get free all-Festival admission, as do volunteers who work a six-hour shift (fewer hours are prorated). Use these links to Volunteer and Apply as a Performer.

Check the Festival Lodging page for the latest information.

You will find the Festival COVID policy here. Watch the COVID page for any updates based on local COVID conditions closer to the Festival, and sign up for The NEFFA Loop to have updates delivered to your inbox. By attending the Festival, you are acknowledging that you have read NEFFA’s COVID-19 policy and you agree to abide by such policy. Further, notwithstanding NEFFA’s effort to mitigate the risk of disease transmission, you are assuming all risk related to being exposed to airborne pathogens while at the Festival.

NEFFA is rebuilding our Family track and as always welcomes families of all ages. Events coded F are designed for you and your children to participate in together, and there is a Family Activities area in the Trade Center. Children must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times. Any Festival Committee member who finds a small child alone will bring them to the Information Table to await their parent. Parents may report small children who are missing to the Information Table NEFFA, its directors, officers, agents, volunteers, and employees do not assume any liability for any injuries to a child sustained as a result of parent or guardian’s failure to adequately supervise a child at the Festival.

Our Getting to the Festival page is for you! You will find maps, directions, parking, and public transit information there, as well as information on discounts from Lyft.

There now are Rideshare and Roomshare spreadsheets where folks needing rides and rooms may be able to connect with others who could offer rooms and rides. Hopefully these will be helpful tools.

Both of these are also accessible from the Getting to the Festival page.

There is no on-street parking associated with the Festival. Please park only in marked spaces in the Hotel or Trade Center lots. Park at your own risk. The New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA), its directors, officers, agents, volunteers, and employees do not assume any liability for any damage, theft or other loss to your vehicle or your property that occurs as a result of parking your vehicle in any of the lots that are designated for Festival use. Observe the designated NEFFA parking signs. NEFFA will not be making announcements about towing.

It is a 5-7 minute walk from the hotel to the trade center, and there is a shuttle bus that runs continuously during Festival hours.

The hotel offers a breakfast area and a restaurant-style buffet, and there will be food trucks at the Trade Center. Festival food includes vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. We regret that we are no longer able to support the community ethnic food vendors from past Festivals at this new venue.

You bet! Our combined Marketplace includes the former Crafts and Folk Bazaar. Visit the Marketplace page for details and how to apply as a vendor. There is also a performer sales area and there will be Festival T-shirts as well as special 80th anniversary merchandise.

On the dance floors, please wear only clean, non- marking shoes that have not been worn outside (such as clean sneakers or soft-soled dance shoes).

See Festival maps for the location of rehearsal rooms (Hotel West). A sign-up sheet will be posted on each door to reserve rehearsal rooms: first-come, first-served.

Large print grids are available in the Lobby and at the Information Table, both in the Hotel. Please contact Information if you need assistance with access to a program or activity.

The entire site is accessible by wheelchair. Accessible parking is available at the Festival site in front of the Hotel and the Trade Center. Additional locations will be clearly marked.

There is a shuttle bus that runs continuously between the Hotel and the Trade Center. While the bus does have steps and is not wheelchair-accessible, it is accessible by passengers using canes or assistive devices, or with collapsible (umbrella-type) strollers.

There will be gender-neutral bathrooms in the Hotel as well as in the Trade Center.

Pets are not allowed at NEFFA. Service animals are permitted, per the ADA definition: “dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.” Emotional support animals do not qualify as service animals and are not permitted at the Festival.

Please watch your personal belongings. NEFFA, its directors, officers, agents, volunteers, and employees do not assume any liability for any damage, theft or loss to your personal property that occurs as a result of attendance at the Festival.

NEFFA maintains a Lost & Found at the Information Table. Before you leave the Festival, check at the Information Table to report belongings you have mislaid. The item may already be there. If not, and it is found at the close of the Festival, it will be mailed to you, if we have your name and address.

If you discover after you leave the Festival that you have lost something, you may email lostandfound@neffa.org to see if the item was found, or visit the Lost & Found page (linked from the home page following the Festival) to report your missing item. Items not claimed by July 1 will be donated to charity, if appropriate.

Yes please!

FOLLOW our NEFFA Facebook Page and you’ll get all the Festival news in your feed. From there, it’s easy to LIKE posts that highlight your favorite Festival themes, from contra and crafts to singarounds and jams.

The real grassroots power comes when you SHARE those posts in your own groups! Grab some virtual flyers or print your own physical ones  and take NEFFA to your party. We’re looking forward to partying with you in April!

Yes, there are a few!  Doing an Internet search is your best bet for finding the right one for you, but a quick search shows that there are four ChargePoint stations close to the Festival site.

Tentative future Festival dates are: 25-27 April, 2025 and 24-26 April, 2026.