Overview The Evanston Folk Festival is a two-day folk festival in Dawes Park on the Lake Michigan shore in Evanston, Illinois, where three stages of music share the lawn with a tent of talks on songwriting and folk history - Jeff Tweedy was on its first program in 2024, and Rosanne Cash sat down there with NPR Music's Ann Powers in 2025. SPACE Presents, the concert arm of Evanston's SPACE music venue on Chicago Avenue, produces it. It started in 2024, and each September edition runs more than 30 acts across a Saturday and Sunday on the lakefront. On site Gates open at 11:30 a.m. and music runs until 8:30 p.m. each day. The festival says its stages are not enormous festival stages but are built to suit their spots in the park, and most sets are stripped down, running from solo to full band. The Chicago Public Media Conversation Tent has first-come seats, with overflow seating on the grass outside. Many artists come to the merch tent after their sets to sign and talk with fans. The bars are cashless and pour beer, wine, spirits and non-alcoholic drinks beside local food vendors. When the park closes, separately ticketed after-shows run at Northwestern's Cahn Auditorium and at SPACE. Audience It is built for families: children under 12 get in free and 12 to 16 year olds pay half. People carry in folding chairs, blankets, coolers, wagons and strollers and set up for the day in front of the stages, with re-entry through a bag check. The Metra Davis stop and the CTA Purple Line sit a few blocks from the north gate. Talent and Influencers Sierra Ferrell and Patty Griffin headlined the first edition in 2024, with Hiss Golden Messenger, Sarah Jarosz and Bonnie "Prince" Billy on the bill and Rufus Wainwright and Steve Earle playing Cahn after dark. Margo Price headlined in 2025 with Bonny Light Horseman, Loudon Wainwright III and The Milk Carton Kids, and Ani DiFranco played an after-show with Hurray for the Riff Raff. In 2026 Trampled by Turtles closed Saturday and Indigo Girls closed Sunday, with Josh Ritter, Valerie June, Sierra Hull, James McMurtry and Mdou Moctar earlier in the day, and Punch Brothers opened the weekend at Cahn the night before. Track record The festival launched in 2024 and returned in 2025 and 2026. Jambands reported more than 12,000 people across the two days of the 2026 edition, which ran more than 30 performers over three stages. Brand presence Chicago Public Media programs the Conversation Tent and Wintrust presents it, so a talk series on folk history carries both names. The festival posts each year's partners on its own sponsor page, with every logo linking out to the partner.