The 2025 New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) will take place on April 25-27, 2025.
Event Name: The New England Folk Festival
Location: Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center, 181 Boston Post Rd. West, Marlborough, MA.
Website: www.neffa.org
Contact for more information: president@neffa.org
The New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) is a unique, weekend-long event featuring close to 1000 performers, scores of artisans and craftspeople, and hundreds of participatory workshops, events, and impromptu music-making opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds.
NEFFA regularly attracts more than 2000 attendees from all over North America and overseas. This year’s event takes place Friday evening April 25 through Sunday, April 27 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
The festival is known for its varied social dance programming, which includes: Contra and traditional square dancing, international folk dancing, couple dancing including Blues, waltzing, English country, Scandinavian, and more. There are plenty of introductory workshops, as well as sessions geared towards intermediate and advanced dancers. A particular favorite is the no walk-through contra dance medley, which originated at the NEFFA Festival.
There is music everywhere! You will find jam sessions, instrument workshops, group singing, and traditional music throughout the festival.
This year, NEFFA is offering special “Sampler Tickets” for people who are new to the festival or who just want to attend for a few hours. Sampler admission is Saturday, April 26 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., and includes indoor shopping in the Marketplace (vendors of dance shoes, musical instruments, and traditional crafts), dance performances from around the world, family-friendly activities including a special crafts area, and the Ramblin’ Road Show and Homemade Hootenanny. In addition to the indoor offerings, attendees can also enjoy snacks from the on-site food trucks and watch more dance performances taking place outside.
Fall in love with NEFFA after your sampler experience? Extend your time at the festival through Saturday night, Sunday, or both at a discounted rate. There are also special activities, dances, and music events geared to families during the daytime hours on Sunday.
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.neffa.org
WHEN: 25-27 April 2025
2025 Program Hours (doors open one hour before program starts):
Friday — 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM
Saturday — 10:00 AM to 11:30 PM
Sunday — 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
COST — Ticket prices vary, with discounts for seniors and youths. Children 8 and under are always free!
Advance Tickets are available online. Visit https://www.neffa.org/advance-tickets-home/
Full-Price Tickets are available at the Festival Lobby in the Trade Center. We do not run out of at-door tickets.
There are numerous opportunities to volunteer in exchange for free admission. See https://volunteer.neffa.org/ or ask at the Volunteers table in the Festival Lobby.
FOR WHOM:
Everyone! All ages. Lots of participants come from the Boston metropolitan area and from western Massachusetts, but others come from all over New England as well as New York, Philadelphia, and even as far as Washington, DC!
Dancing is at all levels, from beginner sessions to “experienced only” dances. There are plenty of introductory workshops, and you don’t need a partner. Many attendees come to shop, to sing, play, learn or listen to music, or to enjoy watching the dance performances.
Photos from NEFFA 2024 (photographer names available on request):
Woodcrafts and wooden spoons (Marketplace):
Jamie/Dragons (Marketplace): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qxJ6dwtatiuJsc-YsncTj3LJoX85dzRu/view
Violins (Marketplace): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SnAK2paNr6Kx2ovnlrTAX33VDRa-aUuz/view
Batik Fabric (Marketplace) (Skirts): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MJ3_z6KeJfBDjJ7b3zmz-PnqvsAKv2Gv/view
3 generations/Andy (Dancing): (https://drive.google.com/file/d/11AXS834DLjAGUxn-Pa9Q91asiBr-ZtEp/view
Kid with accordion: https://drive.google.com/file/d/148VXQ3NOMJiTRb-XnV5nwu-OA9Wz8h0C/view
Tom K concertina: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G_CtLBS-5yNSxTInpo22mVE_sGywzSKw/view
Indian Dance Performance https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fnA-q9MLRZq814J9onNj02-EylvmMeHh/view
Blacksmith https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FfAzXJ8xHXeG8EyEjoGhBhFG5qpqEjo0/view
Ariel Hammered Dulcimer https://drive.google.com/file/d/1A8SAlnzMe6pMcv5xG97-fF9f4CiVWjs-/view