Know Before You Go: Lowell Folk Festival

Get ready for a weekend of music, dance, global flavors, and vibrant culture as the Lowell Folk Festival returns to Downtown Lowell. One of the nation's longest-running free folk festivals, the 2025 edition takes place Friday, July 25, through Sunday, July 27, drawing tens of thousands of visitors for a one-of-a-kind atmosphere.

With nearly all of Downtown Lowell transformed into festival grounds - complete with performance stages, food booths, and family activities - the city comes alive. Whether it's your first Folk Fest or your fifteenth, here's what you need to know for this weekend:

Getting to the Festival

Train it in with the MBTA Lowell line: https://www.mbta.com/schedules/CR-Lowell/timetable
The MBTA will run an extended schedule Folk Fest weekend, offering two extra late-night trains on Friday and Saturday nights at 12:45AM.

The LRTA runs a FREE shuttle from the LRTA Kennedy Center/Gallagher Terminal to the Folk Festival area on Friday (12:00PM - 10:30PM), Saturday (11:00AM - 10:30PM), and Sunday (11:00AM - 7:00PM): https://lrta.com/news/2025-lowell-folk-festival-lrta-service-schedule/

Driving? On-street and garage parking is available throughout the City. See the full list of garages and special event weekend rates: https://lowellma.gov/1802/Folk-Festival-2025

For GPS users, Waze will have updated street closure information. You can see the full list of street closures, by street and by date, here: https://www.likelowell.com/folkfeststreets

What to Expect

Music & Dance

The festival boasts an impressive lineup of performers from various cultural backgrounds. Multiple stages throughout Downtown Lowell will host these performances, so there is always something to enjoy. See the full list of 2025 performers: https://lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/artists

Food & Culture

Food From Around the World vendors present the perfect opportunity to try something new. Non-profit organizations come together to prepare and sell the foods of their heritage with proceeds supporting their causes and programs. See the full list of 2025 food: https://lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/food-from-around-the-world

Family-Friendly Activities

New this year is the Discovery Lowell Playspace, an interactive area along Merrimack St from Dutton St to Central St, featuring the Discovery Museum of Acton and a number of youth-oriented community partners with hands-on activities, crafts, and STEM-focused fun!

Shopping & the Arts

The Experience Lowell Arts Market, produced by Mosaic Lowell, features Lowell artists, makers, and organizations, and gives festival-goers a touch of what Lowell's arts and culture community has to offer: https://lowellfolkfestival.org/pages/experience-lowell

Don't miss the new Dutton Street Market Pop-Up Village next to the HCID Parking Garage at 350B Dutton St! This new outdoor market space is a retail incubator for artists, makers, and small businesses, and only open weekends.

Need a quiet moment? A sensory-friendly Family Quiet Space at 107 Merrimack St will be available Saturday (12:00PM - 5:00PM) and Sunday (12:00PM - 4:00PM). Nursing parents are welcome!

Stay in the Know

For the latest updates, schedules, and performer lineups, visit the official Lowell Folk Festival website and follow their social media channels:

Hydrate, wear comfortable shoes, and please respect the environment. Help us keep Downtown clean by using dedicated trash and recycling bins.

Visit the City of Lowell's Office of Cultural Affairs and Special Events' information booth at the corner of Merrimack St and Shattuck St for maps, schedules, and answers to your festival (and Lowell) questions.

We look forward to welcoming visitors from across the region to Downtown Lowell for this year's Lowell Folk Festival and hope to see you there!