Ocrafolk Festival 2013 was a Blast! 2013 Season Begins at Molasses Creek's Deepwater Theater

Excited crowds at Ocrafolk Festival 2013

Hey there Molasses Creek fans!  What an exciting ride these past couple of weeks have been.  Our 2013 Festival Release album landed on our doorstep two weeks ago, and the Ocrafolk Festival swept into town on June 7, along with tropical storm Andrea.  Despite uncertain forecasts, the eye of the storm zipped west of of us and was north of our region by Saturday.  Although, Friday night's auction and Festival Feed were a little hairy, the breezy weather heralded in a gorgeous, rain-free weekend!

Craicdown & Cassie & Maggie MacDonald at the Friday Night Celtic Jam

L Shape Lot Rocks Ocrafolk Festival Saturday Night

Cassie MacDonald (Halifax, NS) and island Storyteller Philip Howard dance to the fancy fiddling of Caravan of Thieves's Ben Dean at the Ocrafolk Festival wrapup party.

We enjoyed reunions with old friends and getting to know new performers (Caravan of Thieves, Cassie & Maggie MacDonald, Jeanne Jolly, The Outliers, Alberti's Flea Circus, Paperhand Puppets and others) Find out more about this year's Ocrafolk Festival at http://www.ocracokealive.org

Ocracoke School finished up the first week of June with some great field trips and performances.  Cassie and Maggie MacDonald were in town from Nova Scotia and gave the elementary school kids a great concert of fancy fiddling and footwork.  Fiddler Dave's son, Lachlan, and his class made a trip to the Ocracoke Preservation Society for a tour and stories.

A visit to "The Blanche" at the Ocracoke Preservation Society.

A selection of anchors at the OPS Museum.

Molasses Creek's Deepwater Theater began the season the first week of June with the Ocrafolk Opry on Wednesdays and Molasses Creek concerts on Thursdays.  If you are headed to Ocracoke Island, you can reserve shows ahead of time by visiting the Molasses Creek website and clicking on the Deepwater Theater page.  This week we had a special appearance by storyteller Donald Davis.  Donald and his wife Merle life on Ocracoke when they are not traveling the world performing.  Twice a summer they host workshop weeks, inviting around 20 participants to the island to work on storytelling skills and tales.  Their group shared stories at the Ocracoke Preservation Museum and a special Friday night concert at Deepwater Theater.  Also joining Molasses Creek at the Ocrafolk Opry this week were April Trueblood, Capt. Rob Temple & Sundae Horn, the Ocracoke Jazz Society, and Philip Howard and Lou Ann Homan.

That's all for now.  Hope to see you on the island.  The weather is not too hot or humid and the bugs have been mellow so far this year!

Our next major off island performance is opening for Ralph Stanley at the Lost Colony Theater on Roanoke Island, NC on Sunday, July 7.  Hope to see you there!

A Beautiful Ocracoke Harbor Sunset