Along with working at the Alaska State Senate and playing bluegrass, Cajun, and old-time music on mandolin, fiddle, guitar, and accordion, Andrew Heist is the president of the Alaska Folk Festival. This festival, central to Juneau’s social life, has become the largest cultural event annually held in Juneau, with participants and attendees numbering over 2,500 and thousands more in the radio audience—and even the internet. KRNN-FM, Juneau’s Public radio station, broadcasts all the performances live. Musicians and participants from around the world attend the nine four-hour performances averaging fifteen acts each, fourteen hours of dances plus dance workshops, a family concert and forty-plus hours of teaching workshops devoted to every imaginable folk music skill, plus jamming all week long.
Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/23/2020.