World Folk Festival Saturday at Lynn Heritage State Park

LYNN – The 4th Annual World Folk Festival is planned for Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. at Lynn Heritage State Park (rain date July 7).Organizer of the event, David Gass of the Highlands Coalition, said in addition to American folk and a tribute to the late Woodie Guthrie, who would have been 100 years old this year, the event will feature eight performance groups representing cultures from around the globe including the Dominican Republic, Cambodia, Brazil, Israel, South Africa, Spain, El Salvador, Haiti and Iraq.?Lynn is a city of immigrants and a lot of new immigrants have been expressing their culture on their own,” Gass said Thursday night. “The purpose (of the festival) is to let other people see their culture and bring in these groups who are in the shadows, so to speak.”Gass, a neighbor of Heritage State Park, conceived the idea for the festival four years ago. “Seeing the park was very idle, I thought let?s bring these groups together, and folk music is my passion,” added Gass, who learned to play fiddle in school, taught by late school orchestra conductor Joe Leary.This year?s festival, Gass said, will feature Iraqi dance, which he said “is very powerful.” It will also feature a band from Scotland working with the Berklee College of Music in Boston, presenting the roots of Scottish Music in America.The eight-hour festival will also include various food vendors – a mini international food festival – with American, Caribbean, Cambodian and Iraqi fare. Workshops at the festival will be offered on subjects including hat painting, Henna painting and howling.Hosted by the Friends of Lynn Heritage State Park, sponsors of the festival include Eastern Bank, Save The Harbor Save the Bay, The Highlands Coalition, New Lynn Coalition, Lynn Housing & Neighborhood Development, Friends of Lynn/Nahant Beach, The Daily Item, Lazy Dog Sports Bar, Maria Carrasco, Kevin Mahar, Mark Kennard, Bob Ficcoprile, Liz Puleo, Isabel VanMerlin, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, City Council President Tim Phelan, Lynn Community Association, Hibernian Hall, Friends of Lynn and Nahant Beach, Lynn YMCA and Brotherhood Credit Union.If You Go? Lynn Heritage State Park is a waterfront park located at 195 Lynnway, Route 1A/Market Streetintersection.Admission to the 4th Annual WorldFolk Festivalis free.Performance scheduleNoon – Asiah Wotring: (Marshall Middle School)12:10 p.m. – Fargenign (Joy): Yiddish, Russian, Hebrew12:30 p.m. – Crystal Panjammer: Caribbean steel drum1 p.m. – Bremer School of Dance: Irish dancing2 p.m. – Building Bridges: American, freedom songs3 p.m. – Squeezebox Stompers: Cajun/Zydeco4 p.m. – Apsara Dancers: Cambodian youth4:30 p.m. – Babylon Iraqi Group: chobi dance5:30 p.m. – Atlantic Seaway: Scotland / Berklee College6:30 p.m. – Fenan ak Zanmil: Haiti Rara7:30 p.m. – Tiger Family: AppalaciaBetween performances Adam Kaz and Joe Boyd will perform the songs of Woodie Guthrie.