The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival, also known as WoodyFest, is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 – the date of Guthrie's birth – in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma. Daytime main stage performances are held indoors at the Brick Street Cafe and the Crystal Theatre. Evening main stage performances are held outdoors at the Pastures of Plenty. The festival is planned and implemented annually by the Woody Guthrie Coalition, a non-profit corporation, whose goal is simply to ensure Guthrie's musical legacy.Eshleman, Annette C.Concert Review – Woody Guthrie Folk Festival . Dirty Linen, #103, December 2002/January 2003. The event is made possible in part from a grant from the Oklahoma Arts Council. Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, Woody Guthrie's younger sister, is the festival's perennial guest of honor.Nightflying Staff.10 years, eight guys, one special night: Woody Guthrie Folk Festival icons jam for kick-off concert. Nightflying, July, 2007. Retrieved Sept. 17, 2007.
The festival, which over the years has morphed into being called "WoodyFest" by attendees, was founded in 1998 and the inaugural festival included performances by Guthrie's son Arlo Guthrie, British folk-punk-rock artist Billy Bragg, Ellis Paul, Jimmy LaFave, Joel Rafael, and The Red Dirt Rangers.1st Annual Woody Guthrie Festival. July 17–18-19, 1998. (Program booklet.) For the festival's founding, the Woody Guthrie Coalition commissioned a local Creek Indian sculptor to cast a full-body bronze statue of Guthrie and his guitar, complete with the guitar's well-known inscription: "This machine kills fascists". The statue, sculpted by artist Dan Brook, stands along Okemah's main street – named Broadway – in the heart of downtown Okemah.3rd Annual Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival. July 12–16, 2000. (Program booklet.)
The Woody Guthrie Coalition wanted the Guthrie family's approval before establishing the festival. Arlo Guthrie and his sister, Nora, felt strongly that their father would want the festival accessible to all and stipulated that they would sanction the festival if it were free. The Coalition complied and for 17 years the festival was free, except for a nominal parking fee. After struggling financially for several years, in 2015 the Coalition initiated an admission fee for two venues, while still providing free music at another two venues.Wofford, Jerry. Woody Guthrie Folk Festival to charge admission for parts of the event. The Tulsa World, March 31, 2015. To keep expenses at a minimum, artists donate their time, although the Woody Guthrie Coalition pays for the artists' transportation and lodging. According to Rafael, the festival is a wonderful event because musicians are motivated to participate for all the right reasons.Wood, Arthur. Joel Rafael. Kerrville Kronikle, Issue #30, 2002.
Foundation laid
In the early 1960s, Woody Guthrie was living on Mermaid Avenue in Coney Island, New York. Although Bob Dylan made a pilgrimage to visit Guthrie, who was physically deteriorating due to a neurological disorder called Huntington's Disease, the town of Okemah had no interest in remembering its native son.Marroquin, Danny. Walkin' the Long Road PopMatters.com. Aug. 4, 2006. Retrieved Sept. 19, 2007. Okemah residents regarded Guthrie with some suspicion and some believed he was a Communist based on his "Woody Sez" column published in a Communist paper The People's World. In addition, Guthrie sang out his beliefs at labor union rallies – sometimes with other outspoken artists such as Pete Seeger and Cisco Houston. As late as 1971, the Okemah City Council refused to proclaim Woody Guthrie Day due to his radical politics.Curtis, Gene. Only in Oklahoma: This man was our man. Tulsa World, March 17, 2007. Retrieved Nov. 19, 2007. By the 1970s, although most young people in Okemah had never heard of Guthrie, Guthrie-followers began making pilgrimages to Okemah to visit the house where Guthrie lived. Guthrie's son Arlo – a well-known folksinger himself by the 70s – also made occasional trips to Okemah "to feel the situation out."
Twenty years after Woody Guthrie died and approximately ten years before the first festival, Minnesota musician Larry Long decided to continue in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie and become a traveling troubadour. With a grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the Oklahoma Arts Council, Long moved to Okemah and began working with Okemah school students in the Oakes Elementary School and in the Okemah Middle School where he became an artist-in-residence. Over several years Long managed to garner support from local residents to have the students participate in a Woody Guthrie tribute concert.Cox, David. Artist-in-Residence Teaches Folklore to Oakes Students. Okemah News Leader. Vol. 66, No. 93, November 19, 1987.
Some residents of Okemah were strongly opposed to having any kind of tribute to Guthrie and did not think Woody Guthrie deserved any kind of recognition. Several letters to the editor were published in the Okemah News Leader giving voice to this opposition.Kelly, Allison. Letter to Editor. Okemah News Leader. November 24, 1988.McElroy, Paul R. Letters to Editor. Okemah News Leader. November 27, 1988. At the same time, those who supported Long's work also wrote letters to the editor.Ballard, Jim. Letters to Editor. Okemah News Leader. November 27, 1988.Welty, Virginia. Letters to Editor. Okemah News Leader. December 8, 1988. Support came not only from local residents, but also from others across the country including Pete SeegerSeeger, Pete. Letter to Editor. Okemah News Leader. December 11, 1988. and Harold Leventhal.Leventhal, Harold. Letters to Editor. Okemah News Leader. December 8, 1988.
Long stated: "Woody Guthrie changed my life when I was a kid and he's very important to me. I'm absolutely in his tradition. When I was 18 I decided I was going to travel the world and be like Woody Guthrie. Woody was a folklore hero and it would be good for main street (Okemah) if he was celebrated here."
With the assistance of middle school principal Larry McKinney and school board president Mark Smyth, who also owned Okemah's Crystal Theatre, the first tribute to Woody Guthrie took place on December 1, 1988. Students from Okemah, Langston, and Davenport, Oklahoma performed songs they had written with Long's help. Selections from Woody's writings were narrated by Okemah 7th grader Jerry Baker and translated into the Seminole and Creek languages by First Nation Elder Woodrow ‘Wotko’ Haney. Besides Long other featured artists included Larry's long-time musical companion Fiddlin’ Pete Watercott from California and the following beloved Oklahoma musicians: banjo virtuoso Alan Munde; gospel pianist Shirley Davis; and Okemah's own Reverend Olen Edwards on vocals and harmonica.Staff. Woody Guthrie Tribute Draws Criticism,Okemah News Leader. November 27, 1988. McKinney said the artist-in-resident program was a "good learning experience for his seventh grade students". Long stated that the lyrics for the songs “came from students interviewing their parents, grandparents and each other. So when it came time to hold a big community celebration for Woody, it was no longer just Woody we were celebrating, but the entire community of Okemah and Oklahoma.”Long, Larry. Bringing Woody home. Sing Out!, Fall 2001, p. 74+. Gale General OneFile. Accessed September 4, 2019. Woody's sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, attended the concert and later said: "I felt the warmth of my family all around me. Clara, Roy, Woody, George, Papa and Mama. They, too, all sat here in this very theatre many years ago. When the children came marching down the aisle and on the stage I swelled with pride and the tears came. I knew Woody was watching.”
NBC's Today Show sent correspondent Lucky Severson to Okemah to cover the event. Local residents both for and against the tribute to Woody appeared in Severson's Today Show segment.Severson, Lucky. Bringing Woody Guthrie Home – Okemah, Oklahoma – NBC Today Show with Lucky Severson & Larry Long. December 1, 1988. (See YouTube video uploaded April 24, 2018 by LarryLong Troubadour.)
News of the tribute concert spread to Tulsa and beyond. Headlines included "Guthrie finally gets a hometown tribute",Pruitt, Randy. Guthrie Finally Gets a Hometown Tribute. Tulsa World. November 30, 1988. "Okemah's children honor Woody Guthrie with song",DeFrange, Ann. Okemah's Children Honor Woody Guthrie With Song. The Sunday Oklahoman. December 2, 1988. and "Oklahoma town finally pays tribute to memory of 'Dust Bowl' balladeer".Oklahoma town finally pays tribute to memory of "Dust Bowl" balladeer. The Houston Post. December 3, 1988.
The concert was recorded and later released as Larry Long and the Children of Oklahoma – It Takes a Lot of People (Tribute to Woody Guthrie) (Flying Fish/Rounder). The following spring the album's release was celebrated with Arlo Guthrie in concert at the Crystal Theatre. This would be Arlo's first full concert in his father's hometown. The following year (1990), the city of Okemah declared that July 14 – Woody's birthday – be an official city holiday. On that date, Long returned to Okemah and was part of a hootennany held at the Crystal Theatre. News of the city declaration spread and a headline in the Wall Street Journal read: “This is the way the Cold War ends, as a Hootenanny”.McDonough, John. This is the way the cold war ends, as a hootenanny. Wall Street Journal. July 12, 1990.
As a result of Long's work in Okemah, an organization known as W.O.O.D.Y. (Woody Guthrie Okemah Organization for Developing Youth) was born. Founding members included Okemah residents Carolyn Price, Dr. Larry and Vicki McKinney, Lois Tanner, Mark Smyth, Shari Parks, Bobby Massey, and Mike and Wilma Lambeth. The organization's goal was to hold an annual event to not only honor Woody Guthrie, but to also raise funds for the education of local youth. This organization eventually morphed into the Woody Guthrie Coalition Inc.
However, it wasn't until the late 1990s, when Billy Bragg visited Okemah filming scenes for his Man in the Sand documentary about the making of Mermaid Avenue, a collection of unknown Guthrie lyrics put to Bragg's music in collaboration with Wilco, that the town of Okemah started to fully embrace its wiry wanderlusting native. Bragg fittingly christened the first festival in 1998. In an article for Dirty Linen Annette C. Eshleman wrote: "Residents' attitudes have gone from angry accusations of Guthrie being a Communist, to suspicious tolerance, to embracing his legion of loyal fans. And while the economic boost that a festival provides to such a small community is certainly welcome, the kindness and hospitality of openhearted locals is genuine."Eshleman, Annette C. Concert Review – Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. Dirty Linen, #115, December 2004/January 2005.
1998–2002
The first annual Woody Guthrie festival was presented in part by The Orphanage Society, a non-profit charitable arts organization dedicated to supporting and presenting live, original folk music in Oklahoma. The 1998 festival included headliners Tom Paxton, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Peter Keane, Tom Skinner and Kevin Welch plus artists who would – along with Arlo Guthrie, Ellis Paul, Jimmy LaFave, Joel Rafael, and The Red Dirt Rangers – become "WoodyFest" regulars: Terry "Buffalo" Ware, Don Conoscenti and Bob Childers. The festival's program booklet includes a welcome letter from Michael M. Hagy, Mayor of Okemah, who said "The first annual Woody Guthrie festival is just the beginning of the great things to come."