lowellsun.com: Lowell Folk Festival lines up music, donations and alcohol License Commission approves festival applications for three-day July event

Volunteers from Buddhachak Inc. cook chicken over a charcoal grill in Lowell's JFK Plaza for their Southeast Asian menu during Day 2 of the Lowell Folk Festival July 27, 2024. (Peter Currier/Lowell Sun)

LOWELL — Besides lining up its musical entertainment, the Lowell Festival Foundation, which manages the city’s storied Lowell Folk Festival, locked down its special events and alcoholic beverages permits for the three-day event.

In a hearing Thursday night, the four members present on the License Commission unanimously approved the application.

“Rain, shine or whatnot, we are going to have a festival this year,” Festival Director Lee Viliesis told the commissioners.

The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It came roaring back in 2022 through 2024, only to be broadsided by late-in-the-year cuts to its programming by the Trump administration this past May — just two months before the opening of the 38th annual festival.

READ MORE: lowellsun.com/2025/06/28/lowell-folk-festival-lines-up-music-donations-and-alcohol/