FestivalFinger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & DanceGrassRoots 2023
GrassRoots Announces a 31st Festival Led by Watchhouse and The Mavericks
More than 80 acts across five stages come to the Trumansburg Fairgrounds July 20 through 23, with Watchhouse, Sona Jobarteh, The Mavericks, Kabaka Pyramid and DakhaBrakha at the top of the bill.
by
Apr 7, 2023
TRUMANSBURG, N.Y. — The 31st annual Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance runs July 20 through 23, 2023 at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds, roughly 10 miles north of Ithaca, with more than 80 artists booked across five stages over four days.
Watchhouse, formerly Mandolin Orange, lead the announced bill alongside Gambian multi-instrumentalist and composer Sona Jobarteh, Grammy-winning country-Latin band The Mavericks and Jamaican lyricist Kabaka Pyramid.
Four-day passes are $149 early-bird for adults 16 and over, rising to $164 after May 1 and $179 at the gate.
The top of the bill
Kabaka Pyramid comes to Trumansburg having won the 2022 Grammy for best reggae album.
Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha make a fourth GrassRoots appearance, and Jupiter & Okwess arrive from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rising Appalachia, Louisiana zydeco bandleader Keith Frank & The Soileau Zydeco Band and the Ryan Montbleau Band are also booked.
Organizers frame the weekend around what they call the sharing of culture through music and dance. “To create joy in the midst of crisis is a powerful thing and brings magic to the table,” the festival said in announcing the lineup.
Donna the Buffalo, hosts since 1990
The festival is hosted by roots-rock band Donna the Buffalo, who founded it in 1990 and play it every year.
That standing arrangement is the through line across every edition, including the band’s 2021 GrassRoots weekend.
Tickets and passes
Four-day passes for kids 13 to 15 are $80. Children 12 and under get in free with a guardian. Single-day tickets run $55 to $78.
Organizers describe the event as a family-friendly camping music festival.
Culture Camp comes first
The 6th annual GrassRoots Culture Camp runs July 16 through 19, 2023, in the four days ahead of the festival.
The camp is a program of music, dance and art workshops with nightly themed dinners and dances.
Coverage of other editions is in the site archive, including the 2011 lineup and the 34th annual festival in 2026.
Sources: Grateful Web, WXXI News, NYS Music.
Photo: Pete716, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
