It’s Shakori Season again and the Spring Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance‎ is set for Thursday, May 3, through Sunday, May 6, 2018, in bucolic Chatham County, North Carolina — just down the road from Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Durham, Burlington and Greensboro. The 16th anniversary of this annual event is more like a taking a cruise than attending a festival, organizers say.

“If you really want to get away and not just escape in the music, you can not only relax but learn something new, like how to make cider,” says David Dean, director of media and PR for the festival. “It’s a very diverse palette: educating your mind, healing your body and moving your soul.”

The festival, hosted by MerleFest favorites Donna the Buffalo, features more than 50 bands and performers on four stages just outside Pittsboro. Local crafts, North Carolina craft beer and food, lots of children’s activities, healing arts practitioners, dancing and music workshops, environmental sustainability forums, and much more will be available in a family-friendly setting on 72 acres of lush farmland.

Dean describes the festival as “locally grown and locally made. It’s a true grassroots experience. It also offers some of the most diverse music that you can experience in North Carolina.”

In addition to Donna the Buffalo, the lineup includes:

• Steve Earle & The Dukes 
• Rising Appalachia 
• Chicano Batman 
• Ibibio Sound Machine 
• Driftwood 
• AJ Ghent 
• Ryan Montbleau 
• The Mastersons

“While other festivals have different genres, what we have here is indy rock, country, funk, bluegrass, hip-hop, some that borders on EDM, and performers from Uganda,” Dean adds. “It is truly roots from the musical roots of multiple nations.”

MerleFest aside, there are not many roots music festivals that have been around for 16 years, Dean adds. “It’s very family friendly and it’s a nice way to ease into festival season.”

There are areas designed for those 10 and younger as well as areas designed specifically for teens up to 18 years old. “Mom and Dad can be entertained in the dance tent or the drum circle, which are both family friendly,” Dean adds.

There’s also a lot to do beyond the music. In fact, “there’s a whole schedule that revolves around movement,” Dean says. “It’s incredible: on Friday there’s yoga from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. There’s programming from tie dye or mosaics it’s crazy fun stuff that I want to do

It’s also very affordable. Single-day tickets on Friday are only $22, teenagers have their own ticket prices and children 12 and younger are free with a paying adult.

For tickets and more info, visit http://www.shakorihillsgrassroots.org/