The 38th annual Free LakeFest Weekend returns to the Downtown Columbia Lakefront, June 20-22, 2025! Produced by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center in collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts, this FREE three-day extravaganza features live music, an Invitational Fine Arts & Crafts Show with more than 50 artists, kids’ entertainment and crafts, food trucks, a beer & wine garden, participatory workshops, and a variety of activities for all ages.

The Invitational Fine Arts & Crafts Show is back at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront as part of the Free LakeFest Weekend, June 20-22, 2025! Discover more than 50 juried artisans showcasing their one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted artwork – from wearable art to functional pieces – with prices for every budget. Don’t miss their booths located throughout the Festival grounds during the FREE outdoor three-day LakeFest event, presented by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center in collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts!

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.

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.

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. See them perform as part of the Free LakeFest Weekend presented by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center in collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts, June 20-22, at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront.

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.” See Raul Midón perform as part of the Free LakeFest Weekend presented by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center in collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts, June 20-22, at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront.

The pioneering Afro-Peruvian sound system and Latin GRAMMY nominees Novalima continues 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. See them perform as part of the Free LakeFest Weekend presented by the Merriweather Arts and Culture Center in collaboration with the Columbia Festival of the Arts, June 20-22, at the Downtown Columbia Lakefront.

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.

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.

This Wisconsin based Soul-pop R&B group, Tae & The Neighborly, 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.