“Hello everyone — welcome to the 50th Alaska Folk Festival,” Erin Heist, the evening’s host, offered as an expected greeting to begin the usual introductions for what was both an ordinary and historic moment Monday evening at Centennial Hall.

There were no huge flourishes or ceremonial presentations in the convention center’s main ballroom to open the golden anniversary of Juneau’s biggest annual music festival. Instead there were appearances by performers last seen many years ago, the peripheral circulating of a couple filmmakers capturing moments for a documentary, and a big “50” backdrop above the main stage comprised of a poster art collage surrounded by patchwork quilts.

As has become a tradition, the Alaska Youth Choir took the stage as the first performers just after Heist offered her introductions at 6:30 p.m.. They started their mini set of a few songs with the national anthem and official state song as the audience — a fairly typical in size for early in the evening at a couple hundred people in a ballroom with space for many more — stood.

“This is a classic Alaska Folk Festival act,” Heist said. “We’re so happy to have them starting this off this evening. They started in 1994 and their members range of age from six to 18.”

Erin Heist introduces performers as Monday’s host of the 50th Alaska Folk Festival. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Dozens more people were lined up in the foyer outside the ballroom’s doors waiting for a chance to buy Folk Festival clothing, posters from current and past festivals, and other items. Organizers — all volunteers, per another tradition — were setting up a covered tent outside one entrance as part of the many activities outside the main ballroom scheduled to take place (or will occur spontaneously) during the weeklong festival that continues through Sunday.

Inside the ballroom for the next few hours after the youth choir performed, 14 performers ranging from individuals to couples to groups performed mini sets in assigned 15-minute slots — including the time necessary for transitioning between them while Heist offered information about the musicians and tidbits of festival history.

The first adult performers were Deb Spencer and Keith Heller, who like many of the evening’s artists have performed with each other and other festival musicians for many years. The official program for the evening described their set as “a few old songs with original arrangements and maybe an instrumental.”

“It’s such a heavy load everyone’s been carrying for 50 years,” Spencer said. “Here were are and it’s so amazing.”

The next musician, in contrast, was local singer-songwriter Sage Zahnd, who in recent years was a student at the now-defunct Thunder Mountain High School, making a solo debut at the festival with “original songs about love and loss” performed on guitar.

Deb Spencer and Keith Heller perform a mini set during the opening night of the 50th Alaska Folk Festival on Monday at Centennial Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Among the evening’s notorious moments historically what Heist called “a one-night, world-reunion tour” by the two-person Cod FySH Joe, consisting of Joe Gardeier and Theo “FySH” Houck.

“Come back in 2035 for the next world reunion tour,” Heist said. “Actually, I lived across the street from ‘FySH’ for a little while because it’s classic Juneau stuff, so I’m really excited to hear their set.”

Their mini set featured a song about a cowboy called “Second Rodeo” and another about a pirate (“or perhaps even a whole crew of pirates,” Houck said) before Gardeier introduced “a very special guest with us tonight.” That turned out to be Collette Costa, co-owner of the Gold Town Theater as well as a longtime performer, who according to one theater bio “began her auspicious stage career in the 12th grade with a show-stopping rendition of The Oscar Meyer Weiner Song.”

“This next song is about a firefighter. We wanted to give a big shoutout to the Juneau Fire Department for giving us these truly authentic firefighter hats,” Houck said, explaining part of their stage outfits. “They were super-game to us, the firefighters, which is why we wanted to write a song about what happens when they get their heart broken.”

Multihour performances are scheduled every evening of the folk festival, with both audio and video livestreamed by KTOO Public Media. Additional activities including dances at the adjacent Juneau Arts and Culture Center are scheduled to begin Thursday, with full-day schedules on Saturday and Sunday.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.

An early crowd of a couple hundred people of all ages watch the opening acts of the 50th Alaska Folks Festival on Monday evening. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Posters from past Alaska Folk Festivals hang on a wall as people line outside a gift shop for festival items during the opening day of the 50th annual festival Monday at Centennial Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)