About this project

The 2nd New Los Angeles Folk Festival is a fun filled day of music and entertainment taking place at Zorthian Ranch, a surreal hideaway at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, just fifteen miles from downtown Los Angeles. Guests will follow a map across this 45 acre estate of junkyard treasures to experience live music on natural stages provided by this unusual property. This is a rare opportunity to visit Zorthian Ranch and see almost thirty bands that define what new folk music is all about.

Our Kickstarter goal brings us closer to making the Folk Fest possible. The more we raise to cover costs, the more event proceeds we'll be able to donate to I Love Mountains, an organization dedicated to protecting mountains against mountaintop removal (ilovemountains.org). However, there are many obstacles associated with putting on a big show in an apocalyptically exotic setting. The Ranch has seen better days and we're eager to apply some TLC to help restore some of its historic lustor.

We need your support to accomplish all this. Operating as a do-it-yourself entity has its excitement and its challenges, but the Folk Fest thrives because people want to see it flourish. Thank you for helping us preserve the art forms that bring people together!

About Zorthian Ranch:

Zorthian Ranch is a 45-acre mountainside retreat built by Jirayr Zorthian in 1945. It has horses, llamas, chickens, dogs, goats, and an overgrown yard. Up until Zorthian’s death, the ranch served as a haven of bohemian life and a backdrop for his artistic expression—salvaged wood, bed springs, rusted vehicles, broken concrete, movie set pieces, beer bottles, old props, more than one kitchen sink, and other junk he could recycle into various sculptures and architecture. He fortified rock walls with discarded telephone poles and railroad ties, tires, and bowling balls. He built towers, inlaid bridges, walkways, and built a pool on the side of the mountain. Jirayr hosted legendary parties attended by the famous and freaky, artists, musicians, nobel prize winning scientists, movie stars, playmates, writers, and kindly neighbors brought together for festivities host most describe as a bohemian Socrates wearing long red underwear who had women dressed up as nymphs dance around him for his birthday. A little research supports that his two favorite things in life were pigs and women, and the nymphs fed him grapes.

"As time went by and my forays up the mountain became more frequent, and under the influence of atmosphere and setting, I began to think of Zorthian as the genuine article: an authentic bohemian. I came to recognize that he was one of the few among us who was truly interesting. And slowly I began to understand that his entire life was being conducted as an ongoing work of performance art." —The Last Bohemian, RIP
by Paul J, Karlstrom, L.A. Weekly

compliments to The New LA Folk Fest:

"The L.A. urban folk scene has slowly grown over the last decade from a cluster of mutual friends to a small community of bands to its own mini-alt-country music organization, The New Los Angeles Folk Festival." —L.A. Times

"Everyone agreed that this night was special. It was more than just a concert. It felt like an experience. We were transported by the visuals and the music and the environment and the funny delivery of a story by the hostess...All this makes me look forward to anything The New L.A. Folk Fest does."—L.A. Record

"Whomever organized all this...really had their shit together."—StompBeast

"The New Los Angeles Folk Festival has been doing a fine job of bringing that wide-open spirit to the city." —NBC Los Angeles

"The Los Angeles Folk Fest is doing some really cool and unique shows that are definitely worth checking out."—Argot & Ochre

"LA’s freakiest folks…The New LA Folk Fest"—The Coachella Valley Art Scene

"It's a beautiful thing for LA. Seems to be washing away a lot of the pretense that gives L.A. a bad name." —RT N' The 44's, interviewed by The Red Alert

"The New LA Folk Fest...has been designed to mimic the effects of leave-in conditioner on your life...The bands selected represent the folky best of what's happening in L.A. There are many among us drawn to voices reminiscent of ghosts and cartoons, toys and tap dancing and beards and congas."—co-founder Daiana Feuer interviewed by OC Weekly