Humboldt Folklife Society President Patrick Cleary has declared this year’s Humboldt Folklife Festival “bigger than ever.”

”We’re up to nine days this year, with a couple of new events — a kickoff party at Mad River Brewery on Saturday, July 14 as well as a special Monday afternoon free concert on the 16th with the Scotia Band,” Cleary said.

The Scotia Band’s appearance will be their first for the beloved local festival in Blue Lake and Arcata.

A pre-kickoff kickoff will commence the action on Friday with a Barn Dance at 7:30 p.m. at the Arcata Veteran’s Memorial Building with the band Wild Rumpus as well as Blake and Sam playing tunes while callers Sue Moon, Mike Mulderrig and Matthew Marshall orchestrate the action.

”Callers are the ones who call out the dance steps,” Cleary said. “The great thing about barn dances are that no prior experience is necessary, just show up and the caller will explain it all. Wild Rumpus has played dances around here for years, while Blake and Sam are more Irish oriented.”

After the dance, Cleary and his bluegrass band the Pilot Rock Ramblers as well as acoustic stars The Spindrifters will perform on Saturday at Mad River Brewery in Blue Lake for the Folklife Festival Kickoff Party, which begins at 5 p.m.

”We’re all happy about the kickoff party — most of the festival is already in Blue Lake, so it was an easy extension,” said Cleary, the Pilot Rock Ramblers’ mandolin and banjo man. “The Pilot Rock Ramblers and the Spindrifters are friends and have played with each other before.”

This Sunday will feature the usual and mostly free Annie and Mary Day festivities in Blue Lake — the grange breakfast, a parade, barbecue and other foods, craft booths, games, beer and live music. Breakfast will be served from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Mad River Grange, the parade in Blue Lake leading to Perigot Park will begin at 11 a.m. and finally music in the park will be showcased from noon until about 5:15 p.m. Set to play in this order, live performers include fiddlers Mon Petit Chou, bluegrass duo Blake and Rich, folk-grass stars Lonesome Roses, bluegrassers Clean Livin’ and ukulele kings Ukesperience.

”Traditionally, Annie and Mary Day involved all bands with fiddles in them, but the Ukesperience will shatter that tradition,” Cleary said.

After that, there will be a free afternoon concert with marching-band masters The Scotia Band at the Dell’Arte Amphitheater in Blue Lake at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

”I think it is a brilliant fit because what they play is truly American music, and it is completely acoustic,” Cleary said. “It will be the perfect after-work situation and very family friendly.”

Following that on the same night at Dell’Arte, the Carlo Theater will host the annual Songwriter Night beginning at 7:30 p.m. with performances by Marc Jeffares, John Luddington, Andrew Goff and Jaese Lecuye.

”Last year we featured all women songwriters, so we decided to look at the men this year,” Cleary said. “Marc Jeffares is one of the driving forces behind The Trouble, perhaps the hottest band in the county now. John Ludington is a brilliant and eccentric songwriter as well as a great musician — he plays bass for Absynth Quintet. Jaese Lecuyer was the star of Dell’Arte’s Big Fat Liar show a few years back and has an incredible voice, and Andrew Goff, well, he’s Andrew Goff. He is a solid musician aside from his hit song last year: ‘Who Poo’d and Pee’d on the Bank’.”

Tuesday, July 17 is Jazz Night at the Carlo Theater from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. with performances by the Labolle, Randles, Wu Trio, Victor & Penny and the Coconini Trio, in that order.

Wu’s performance may be one of his last in Humboldt for a while.

”He’s moving to Portland and is a brilliant bass player,” Cleary said. “Victor and Penny will be Humboldt County residents for the day — they are a touring duo that is traveling through and focus on 1920s jazz.”

Wednesday, July 18 will mark Country Night in the ‘Amphitheater from 6 to around 10:30 p.m. with performances by Garberville country-rockers Twango Macallan, western-swing artists Fallin’ Rocks and local country-grass greats Huckleberry Flint, in that order.

On Thursday, July 19, the festival will see the return of the ultra-popular Bluegrass and Beyond event at the ‘Amphitheater from 6 to 10 p.m. — a show that always sells out. Clean Livin’, Arcata jug-grass stars the No Good Redwood Ramblers, local bluegrass quartet the Compost Mountain Boys and thrilling Humboldt bluegrass standouts Absynth Quintet will take the stage in that order.

Friday, July 20 will mark another Barn Dance at the Arcata Veteran’s Memorial Building beginning at 7:30 p.m. with Gabe Strand calling to the tunes of Arcata’s Striped Big Stringband.

Finally, Saturday, July 21 will boast the Humboldt Folklife Festival’s staple finale — the All Day Free Festival from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Dell’Arte.

Free performances from the likes of Humboldt Americana-rockers The Trouble, local jamgrass stars Kindred Spirits and many, many others will be showcased on two stages all day long with free workshops on calling, fiddling, flatpicking, harmony-singing, banjo, mandolin, jazz-guitar, ukulele and more.

A full music and workshop schedule for the day, advance tickets to other Folklife Festival events and more information may be found at humboldtfolklife.org.

Advance tickets to pay-events may also be found at Wildberries Marketplace, Wildwood Music and The Works.

”The most surprising thing is how many people still have never been (to the festival),” Cleary concluded. “Many of the events are free, and even the night concert tickets are quite affordable — $7 for (the) Jazz and Songwriter (nights), $10 for Country and Bluegrass (nights). The festival keeps getting bigger and, more importantly, better. All the musicians volunteer to play for free so we can make this event accessible to everyone and yet we still have to turn away very good artists because we don’t have enough space to accommodate all the bands that want to be involved.”

If you go

What: Humboldt Folklife Festival

When: Friday through July 21

Where: Varies

Admission: Varies, all ages