Crowds watch as guest artists De Temps Antan, from Quebec, play an encore performance after their closing set on Sunday evening.

Friday Evening, Centennial Hall 7 p.m. Johnny Devil's Club and the Wild Goose Band. Juneau. 7:15 p.m. Gloryhole Mission Band. Juneau. 7:30 p.m. Allison Tazlina Mapes with Clark County. Auke Bay. 7:45 p.m. Live on Arrival. Davis, Calif. And More....

I jumped the gun and already started thinking about how sad it's gonna be when my out-of-town friends leave after Folk Fest. There are indeed such things as the post-festival blues and they're not limited to our Alaska Folk Festival, either. They happen after the San Francisco Bluegrass Festival. They happen after the National Fiddler's Festival at Weiser, Idaho. They happen after the Portland Old-Time Gathering, Anderson Country Music Festival, South By Southwest, Wintergrass, and the list goes on and on.

Folk Festival fans who have been sitting and tapping their toes to the music on stage this past week can take one or more opportunities this weekend to learn a new skill, broaden their existing musical knowledge or just shake a leg.

Andre Brunet, left, and Peirre-Luc Dupuis of De Temps Antan perform as this year's guest artists to the 35th Alaska Folk Festival at Centennial Hall Thursday night. Not shown is band member Eric Beaudry. The band from Québec, Canada, will play Friday's dance at 10:45 p.m. and a final performance Sunday at 9 p.m. For a schedule of all event performances, see page C5.

The 35th annual Alaska Folk Festival will continue through the weekend with main stage performances, dances, jam sessions, workshops and other events. For complete listings, visit akfolkfest.org.

Will and the Hefferputians is Will Putman, Trudy Heffernan, Molly Putman and Liam Putman. Like they have done year after year, the family will make the drive to the festival from Fairbanks.

The Empty Oil Barrel Band is the brainchild of Ed Schoenfeld who attended his first festival in 1979. The following year, he applied for and got a Sunday afternoon set where he "sang a couple goofy songs while playing the autoharp." Since then, he has "graduated to better showtimes" and has asked his friends to join him on stage.

Carl Reese is a singer/songwriter who describes his style as "kind of folk, sort of rockish with a touch of blues." He came to Alaska about five years ago and has been playing music for about twenty years.

Kim Beggs of has been coming to the festival from Whitehorse since 1993 and has performed since 2002. A journeyman carpenter, she makes her living by playing music. Her last album was nominated for two Canadian music awards and her songs have been finalists in the International Songwriting Competition.

The Gastineau Strummers consists of Patrick Murphy's third, fourth and fifth-grade music students at Gastineau Elementary. Murphy and the Strummers hold a sing-along at school every Friday where the whole school gathers together start the day in song. Their festival set will be similar, Murphy said. "This year, I want to take this sing-along thing across the bridge and do it just like we do (at school)," Murphy said.

Robin Hopper has been writing songs and educating musicians in Alaska since 1984. In 2003, she won the Alaska Song of the Year contest, and she has been a finalist several times.

Kaila Buerger is a student at Juneau-Douglas High School who will be performing in the festival for the first time. She has played in talent shows since elementary school and said she is excited to start performing in front of larger audiences.

There is no way to gauge how many truly new songs are debuted every year at the Alaska Folk Festival. Old compositions are often dusted off and reworked, and covers are reinterpreted in fresh ways.

Kathy Fanning plays fiddle Saturday during a pre-Alaska Folk Festival jam session at the Juneau City Museum. The 35th annual Alaska Folk Festival starts tomorrow and runs through next Sunday at Centennial Hall.

Established In the winter 1975 when Alaska was in its teenage years of statehood, the Alaska Folk Festival has grown to become a central event in Juneau's local music scene. Welcoming artists of all levels of proficiency, the festival now boasts more than 140 acts, as well as dances and workshops. Just over half of this year's performers are from Juneau, but others are coming from as far away as Arkansas and New York.

Some folk fest moments tend to resonate more than others. Here is a small sampling of what stands out for a handful of local musicians and fans.

The Alaska Folk Festival is in its 35th year. Many of its founding members are still around and many of their children are continuing the musical traditions of their parents. The main stage sets kick off at 7 p.m. Monday. The festivities will continue until the final set at 9 p.m. on Sunday with guest artists De Temps Antan.