This year’s festival highlights many traditions and genres. Opening week kicks off Friday, Aug. 29 with an exploration of the works of Robert Schumann, his gifted wife Clara, and the young Johannes Brahms. On Saturday, Aug. 30, an outdoor tent concert at Red Cliffs Lodge features the Latin jazz of the Edmar Castaneda Quartet.
A festival music hike, “Fiddlers Three,” is scheduled for the morning of Sunday, Aug. 31. Participants are transported to a secret wilderness location and then hike to a natural setting for acoustic music. Reservations are required, and the music hikes typically sell out quickly, so those interested are encouraged to contact the festival box office right away.
On Sunday, Aug. 31, the festival returns to Red Cliffs Lodge for “Ireland in the New World,” a look at the roots and traditions of Celtic music and song.
The festival’s Rocky Mountain Power free family picnic concert on Labor Day, Sept. 1, will include a celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of Canyonlands National Park with a new work by Utah composer Gerald Elias. Celtic tunes and music by Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda and vocalist Andrea Tierra round out the concert. This free event will be held at Swanny City Park, 100 West and 400 North, at 2 p.m.
This season, all of the festival’s benefit concerts, including the signature grotto concerts and house and ranch benefit events, are sold out, festival officials have said.
Tickets for the Star Hall and outdoor tent concerts are $25. Tickets for the music hikes are $60. For more information, visit: www.moabmusicfest.org, or call the festival box office at 435-259-7003.