Sam Hinton Folk Festival at Old Poway Park on June 20

The 2015 Sam Hinton Heritage Folk Festival returns once again from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 20.

This will be the 10th year the festival will be held at Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Road. The festival was founded in 1967 by legendary folk musician Sam Hinton. Hosted by the San Diego Folk Heritage, the festival is free and open to the public.

The Sam Hinton Folk Festival celebrates the life of Hinton, who passed away at the age of 92 in 2009, as well as his many contributions to the folk music scene throughout his musical career.

This year’s festival will feature a wide variety of acoustic and folk music by San Diego based-musicians, as well as dancing, storytelling, open mike sessions and jam sessions. The festival will be preceded by the Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Old Poway Park’s train will also be available to ride for a nominal fee.

The music will begin at 11 a.m. and run through the end of the festival in the gazebo.

The Mark Jackson Band will perform at 11 a.m., followed by Patty Hall and Gregory Campbell at noon; Mari Black at 1 p.m.; the Poway Folk Circle Chorus at 2 p.m.; Levi Dean and the Americats at 3 p.m.; and The Lacemakers at 4 p.m.

There are also open jam sessions, under the trees in the picnic area. Bringing a folding chair to sit on is recommended. At 1 p.m. is a bluegrass jam on the park lawn, and at the sweater tree behind Templar’s Hall will be an Old Time Music Jam, also at 1 p.m. There will be an open mic set up on the boxcar stage from noon to 5 p.m., so bring your favorite instrument and come share you talents.

The festival will also have contra dancing, so put on your dancing shoes and get ready to boogie. Contra dancing will be from 1 to 3 p.m. in Templar’s Hall.

The festival wouldn’t be complete without storytelling, and there will be a wide variety for you and your family to enjoy.

The stories begin at noon in the Porter House with “Beasts and Birds,” followed by “Old-Time Tales” at 1 p.m.

This year’s storytellers include Marilyn McPhie, Mary Holma and Jim Dieckmann.

A kids open storytelling mic session will begin at 3 p.m., followed by an adults open mic storytelling period at 4 p.m. If you have a story, come tell it to an eager audience. Each amateur storyteller gets five minutes, no notes are allowed, and the story must be appropriate for a public setting.

“I’m especially enthusiastic about the kids’ open mic,” said Marilyn McPhie, president of the Storytellers of San Diego in a press release. “I’ve already had several people express interest in this. It will be a fun hour. Kids can sign up ahead of time or just show up that day with a story.” To sign up ahead of time, call 858-484-1325 or contact mmcphie@gmail.com.

For more information, visit www.sdfolkheritage.org.