To the editor:

The organizing committee of the Northern Current music festival sends its thanks and appreciation to the greater Tri-Lakes community for helping us host a successful event.

This year’s festival featured five musical acts — the Mallett Brothers Band, Underground System, Paris Monster, Folkfaces and Giovanina Bucci & Co. — that performed for free at Riverside Park in downtown Saranac Lake. As the successor to Hobofest, Northern Current strives to create a fun, family-friendly atmosphere and highlight a diverse lineup of music in an accessible space, and based on feedback from attendees, we were able to deliver. We thank everyone who came to listen, dance and socialize, and are grateful that the weather mostly stayed sunny and warm.

The 2021 edition of Northern Current was scaled back somewhat as we continue to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival is made possible in part with the funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support from the governor’s office and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts; foundation support is provided by a generous gift from the Cloudsplitter Foundation. We also thank our event sponsors — Little Italy, North Country Community College, Adirondack Health and the Waterhole — and the businesses and organizations that supported this year’s musical lineup: Adirondack Frontier, Cape Air, Casella, Edward Jones, Fiddlehead Bistro, Grizle T’s/Scullery, Long Run Wealth, Nori’s and Tops.

Additional support was provided by Best Western, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, Boyer’s Septic, Stewart’s Shops, Tell Media, High Peaks Concepts, North Country Public Radio, New York State Music, Fogarty’s Lake Flower Marina and The Wild Center. Northern Current also thanks the Farm 2 Fork Festival for coordinating with us during a busy Labor Day weekend.

Two more thank yous are in order, too: to Peter Seward and Todd Smith, co-founders of Hobofest, who entrusted our committee to carry their tradition into the future, and our fiscal sponsor, the Saranac Lake Rotary Foundation, which helps us accept charitable gifts and grants in support of free community music.

Most of all, we thank the volunteers who helped organize sponsorships, marketing, logistics and all aspects of hosting a music festival; it takes an entire community to support an event like this, and we couldn’t do this without each and every one of you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Eric Ackerson

Jess Collier

Ray Curran

Eric Foster

Dan King

Katrina Lauber

Iris Li

Luke Meissner

Chris Morris

Eric Munley

Emily O’Mahoney

Kiki Sarko