Columbia Festival of the Arts - Free LakeFest Weekend

Name: Columbia Festival of the Arts - Free LakeFest Weekend
Start: 2025-06-20T17:00:00-04:00
End: 2025-06-22T19:00:00-04:00
Location: Columbia Lakefront

Schedule

Fri, 20 Jun, 2025 at 05:00 pm to Sun, 22 Jun, 2025 at 07:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

Columbia Lakefront | Columbia, MD

The Columbia Festival returns to the Downtown Columbia Lakefront with its FREE LakeFest Weekend featuring three days of live music, an invitational fine arts and crafts show, kids’ entertainment and crafts, a variety of activities for all ages, and fabulous festival food fare. LakeFest is produced by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center as part their ongoing collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts.
Festival Hours:
Friday, June 20: 5:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 21: 11:00 a.m. – 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 22: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

LAKESTAGE SCHEDULE
Friday, June 20
5:00 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. – KEN DEMITH COLLECTION
The Ken Demith Collection is an energetic, original alternative, roots, rock, pop band based in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Lead by singer/songwriter Ken Demith, fans find the music easy to connect with, be uplifted and inspired by. Ken is a true storyteller with a knack for melody that brings the stories to life.
6:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. – HALF GRINGA
Emerging from Chicago’s flourishing indie music scene, Half Gringa creates music informed by contemporary indie-rock and Latin American and Midwestern folk. The name Half Gringa is both a tribute to and study of her legacy, stemming from a childhood term of endearment as “la Gringa” in her Venezuelan family and her bicultural experience growing up in the United States.
7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – GABY MORENO
Gaby Moreno in concert is a soulful blend of blues, jazz, folk, and Latin rhythms, delivered with her powerful voice and emotional guitar work. Since moving to Los Angeles from her native Guatemala, Gaby has released nine albums and recently won a Grammy in 2024. She also co-wrote the Parks and Recreation theme song, which earned her an Emmy nomination. Moreno has shared the stage with artists such as Bono, Andrea Boccelli, Tracy Chapman, Ani DiFranco, Buena Vista Social Club, Calexico, David Gray, and more. She also sang the theme song and voiced Marlena in Disney’s children’s television series Elena of Avalor.
9:15 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. – ZACH PERSON
Emerging out of Austin, Texas, Person plays loud, raw, and connects with his music fans on a primal sonic level. Person has a swagger, talent and grit beyond his years. With the poise of a seasoned veteran on stage and the stylings of a mega star, he commands an audience in seconds. “Reminiscent of everyone from Elmore James and Duane Allman to The Black Keys and Jack White, Person channels a raw, pure-bred American swagger,” said American Songwriter.
Saturday, June 21
Noon – 12:45 p.m. – CARROLL COUNTY DANCE CENTER
CCDC is dedicated to fostering a community where every dancer not only finds the joy of movement but also develops the skills that will guide them toward becoming future leaders. Through discipline, creativity, and a commitment to excellence, CCDC empowers its students to lead with confidence, integrity, and respect both on and off the stage.
1:00– 1:45 p.m. – SONG RIOT
Song Riot aren’t your average guitar and accordion duo. A cool jazz standard one minute, a rousing Celtic number the next, and that’s just for starters. Yet it all sounds of a piece,
anchored by a passion for songs featuring strong melodies, a potential for musical exploration, and words that say something.
2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – MOVEMENT IN MUSIC ENSEMBLE
Movement in Music Ensemble (MIME) is a professional orchestra that aims to bring innovative concerts to audiences across Maryland by combining memorized classical music with choreography to create a visual presentation that brings the music to life.
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. – ALYSHA BRILLA
Alysha Brilla is an Indo-Tanzanian Canadian singer-songwriter blending folk, world, soul and pop influences. She is a 2025 Women In Music International Leadership Honouree, a three-time JUNO Award nominee and 2024 Canadian Screen Award-nominated composer for The Queen Of My Dreams.
4:30 – 5:45 p.m. – RAUL MIDON
Blind singer-songwriter and guitarist Raul Midón is nothing if not prolific. His 14th and latest album Lost & Found is a blend of what he calls “smooth folk,” “alt-pop,” and “jazz.” A master at combining genres, the New York Times says “his music suggests a three-way fusion of Stevie Wonder, Bobby McFerrin and José Feliciano.”
6:00 – 7:15 p.m. – NOVALIMA
The pioneering Afro-Peruvian sound system and Latin GRAMMY nominees Novalimacontinues to innovate by collaborating with a new generation of artists and fusing contemporary global sounds with their Afro-Peruvian roots. Over their celebrated career, Novalima has earned worldwide critical acclaim from media outlets like NPR, The Guardian, and Billboard.
7:30 - 9:00 p.m. – SINKANE
SINKANE is the nom de plume of multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Gallab. The former skate punk turned afro-funk maestro and veteran of indie-rock bands like Caribou, Yeasayer, and Of Montreal, has released eight albums and continues to resist the confines of genre. It’s pop. It’s funk. It’s electronic. It blends the gritty punk newness of a 70s and 80s New York with the steady, foundational soul of the rhythms of Gallab’s native Sudan.
9:15 - 10:30 p.m. – BASSEL & THE SUPERNATURALS
Bassel & The Supernaturals tells the story of Bassel Almadani's experience as a first generation Syrian-American using soulful melodies, funk inspired rhythms, and captivating lyrics regarding love, loss, otherness, and the war in Syria. They made their national television debut in May 2024 as part of a new PBS docuseries starring Dule Hill entitled The Express Way, regarding the transformative power of the arts.
Sunday, June 22
Noon – 1:00 p.m. – WILDE LAKE STEEL DRUM BAND
The Wilde Lake High School Steel Drum Band is one of many performing ensembles that make up the Wilde Lake Band Program. The Wilde Lake High School Steel Drum Band is well known for its performances of a variety of music, from Calypso to Soca, as well as jazz.
1:15 p.m. – 2:10 p.m. – PATUXENT JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Founded in 2015, the Patuxent Jazz Band operates under the Columbia Bands, Inc. (CBI) umbrella, and was formed to provide an outlet for community members to play in a jazz ensemble.
2:30 – 3:45 p.m. – BIRCKHEAD
The New York Times calls Birckhead “One of the most riveting young improvisers in New York.”
The Baltimore native's talent earned him the honor of performing and touring with legendary artists including Lauryn Hill, Nas, Wale, Eric Benet, Larry Graham, George Duke and many more.
4:00 – 5:15 p.m. – TAE & THE NEIGHBORLY
This Wisconsin based Soul-pop R&B group, found themselves playing music together in a very unconventional way. They were all neighbors, each one living alone on one floor of a five-story flat. Cake baking is a shared passion of the five-member group, but in the sugar shortages early in the 2020 pandemic, they found themselves so continually knocking on each other's doors. It wasn’t before long that the group began to write and perform together across the nation.
5:30 – 7:00 p.m. – GLENELG JAZZ ENSEMBLE
The Glenelg Jazz Ensemble has received more than 60 awards over the last 20 years, including the highest rating at the Maryland State Jazz Festival. Many national and regional jazz artists have shared the stage with the Ensemble, including Maynard Ferguson, The Count Basie Orchestra, Frank Foster, Carl Fischer, Chris Vadala, and Deanna Bogart.

Fine Art & Crafts Show & Sale
Our juried, invitational show returns with more than 50 extraordinary artisans displaying and selling their one-of-a-kind artwork representing a breadth of media including functional and wearable art at a wide range of prices. Booths located throughout the Festival grounds.
Friday, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Sunday, 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

KidzArt – FREE Arts and Crafts
Presented in Partnership with KidzArt.
Children are invited to explore the visual arts with “artrageously” fun projects led by KidzArt, Howard County’s celebrated advocates of child creativity. Parents must remain with children during each activity. Permanent, non-washable materials may be used. Crayons and paper will be available for younger children. On-site registration is required as space is limited. Saturday, 12:30– 5:30 p.m. Sunday, 12:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Color the LakeFest Monster Mural!
Returning to LakeFest this year is the 16’ x 5 ‘life-sized coloring wall for attendees to color with washable markers all weekend long. It brings a little childhood to adults, and gives kids coloring on a scale they've never seen before!

Umbrellas Abound at LakeFest
Hosted by Columbia Association Art Center
Enjoy viewing a variety of decorated golf umbrellas outlining Lake Kittamaqundi near the boat dock. Using golf umbrellas as canvases, community members and groups created 60 colorful works of art inspired by the theme Bringing Unity to CommUNITY through the Sounds of Music. Designed to enhance unity and positivity throughout the community, the show entries reflect inspiration brought from songs, musicals, movies, performers, music genres, music history, and music through cultures. Vote for your favorites! Winners will be announced on Sunday, June 22 at 1pm.
Pinot's Palette Lakefront Memory Boards
Paint your LakeFest Memories! People of all-ages can share their thoughts and images of the festival by painting them on a large canvas board. Pinot's Palette will provide all the supplies for this activity. The collaborative works of art will be on display at the Pinot's Palette Studio following LakeFest weekend. Pinot’s Palette will be on-hand each day LakeFest.

Visit the Emotional Support Human Sculpture
Sponsored by the Horizon Foundation, this dynamic sculpture encourages individuals to reflect on their emotional well-being through communal sharing and witnessing. Participants choose color coded plaques with words or images, or write personal phrases that express how they are feeling and place them on the “emotional support human” figures.
Black Cherry Puppet Theater
Baltimore’s Black Cherry Puppet Theater has for 45 years built a community of artists exploring and presenting the art of the puppet. Not only does it showcase performances by some of the finest puppeteers anywhere, the touring troupe also presents award winning puppet shows across the Mid-Atlantic Region. This is a show not to be missed! Various performance times throughout the weekend. See schedule.
Festival Parking
Free parking (including Accessible Parking) available nearby at the Wincopin Circle parking garages. Visitors can also park at the Sterrett Place lot located at 5575 Sterrett Place. PLEASE DO NOT PARK AT WHOLE FOODS MARKET.