Musikfest Sands Steel Stage. Photo by Ted Colegrove

MUSIKFEST CELEBRATES 30^TH YEAR AUG. 2-11 WITH 500 MUSICAL PERFORMANCES ON 14 STAGES

Ke$ha, OneRepublic, Peter Frampton &  B.B. King, Styx & Foreigner, Buckwheat Zydeco, Holly Williams
and More to Take the Stage During Festival’s 10-day Run

Ke$ha, Styx & Foreigner, OneRepublic, Darius Rucker, Carly Rae Jepsen, Peter Frampton & B.B. King, Buckwheat Zydeco, Southern Culture on the Skids, Trout Fishing in America, Holly Williams and Here Come the Mummies are among the 300-plus musical acts that will take the stage when Musikfest celebrates its 30^th year Aug. 2-11. The largest free music festival in the nation, the event will showcase more than 500 performances during its 10-day run, with free concerts on 13 of 14 stages.

Musikfest 2013 headlining performances at the festival’s Sands Steel Stage include Carly Rae Jepsen Aug. 2; OneRepublic with Mayer Hawthorne and Churchill Aug. 3; Frampton’s Guitar Circus with Peter Frampton, B.B. King and Sonny Landreth Aug. 5; Styx & Foreigner Aug. 7; Darius Rucker Aug. 9; and Ke$ha Aug. 10.

On Aug. 7, 9:30 p.m., the festival will also welcome zydeco legend Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural Jr. to its Pennsylvania Lottery Volksplatz stage. The Grammy Award winning Buckwheat Zydeco has been playing his unique blend of zydeco for more than three decades. In 1996, he performed to a worldwide audience of three billion people as part of the Summer Olympics’ closing ceremonies.

In addition, on Aug. 7 Holly Williams will perform a 5 p.m. show on Musikfest’s Aetna Americaplatz stage.  The daughter of Hank Williams Jr., this talented singer-songwriter has received critical acclaim from The New York Times, USA Today, Rolling Stone and other prestigious publications for her most recent release, The Highway.

Among the many other artists performing at Musikfest are North Carolina rockers Southern Culture on the Skids Aug. 4, bluegrass and hip-hop fusion sensation Gangstagrass Aug. 7-8, country/roots act The Abrams Brothers Aug. 7-8, funk and R&B ensemble Here Come the Mummies Aug. 9 and Virginia-based Americana group The Steel Wheels Aug. 9 and 10.  Also taking the stage will be Siberian surf rockers Igor & The Red Elvises Aug. 3-5, Canadian folk duo Dala Aug. 3, the genre bending Pearl & the Beard Aug. 4, electric blues and jazz quartet Rick Estrin and the Nightcats Aug. 8, the four-time Grammy nominated Trout Fishing in America Aug. 10 and gypsy swing band Caravan of Thieves Aug. 10-11. On Aug. 2, the festival will kick off with a performance by folk singer John Gorka, the very first act to perform at the inaugural Musikfest in 1984.

Admission to all Musikfest stages is free with the exception of Sands Steel Stage performances; tickets for all announced Sands Steel Stage concerts are on sale now at www.musikfest.org and 610-332-3378.

The list of the more than 260 performers confirmed so far is available at www.musikfest.org/lineup-2013.php. Additional acts, including the last four headlining performers, will be announced later this spring. To stay up to date on all of the festival announcements, follow Musikfest at facebook.com/musikfest or twitter.com/musikfest.