When is the festival?
Since 2010 the festival has been held in late summer, the last weekend in July or the first weekend in August (with the notable exception of 2021, when it was the first weekend in October due to the pandemic). In 2024, the festival was held July 26-27, and our 2025 dates are set for July 25-26. Our 2026 dates are July 24-25!
What should I bring?
Your tickets. If you purchase your tickets in person, you will need to bring them with you. If you purchase a VIP Pass, 2-day pass, or single-day ticket to the festival online or in person, you will receive a separate ticket for each day of the event. (If you misplace digital tickets, we’ll be able to look you up at the gate. Do not lose your hard tickets, because we can’t replace them!)
Your ID. You will need your ID if you intend to purchase alcoholic beverages. Please understand that you will need your ID to get a wristband at the festival or any other event at Peoples Natural Gas Park, regardless of your age and appearance.
Push strollers. We welcome small festival-goers!
Wheelchairs, medical scooters, walkers, and other mobility devices. The festival is flat, compact, and relatively easy to navigate. Welcome!
What should I NOT bring?
Dogs. Dogs and other pets are not allowed at the music festival or any other event at Peoples Natural Gas Park, regardless of the animal’s size or behavior. Leave Fido or any other pet at home for the health and safety of all our patrons. (Of course, service dogs in harness are welcome).
Coolers and outside food/beverages. Outside food and beverages (alcoholic or otherwise) are not allowed on festival grounds. You may bring a water bottle containing water only, and a refilling station will be available.
A/V recording equipment. Many of our artist contracts explicitly prohibit live audio or audiovisual recordings of any portion of their performances.
Weapons. Do not bring weapons to festival grounds. Please know that there will be a bag check as you enter the festival (bags are allowed), and you will be wanded by our security team.
Tents, beach-style umbrellas, or other shelters/canopies. These items are not allowed. Rest assured that you’ll find plenty of places to get out of the sun if you need to.
Drones. Drones, whether launched from the grounds or from nearby, are not allowed without express consent of festival organizers. Enough said.
Wagons, large bags with wheels, pull-carts, skateboards, segways, scooters etc. The festival footprint is small and full of people. We do not allow these items — they represent a safety hazard, you won’t need them, and they’ll be in the way.
Folding chairs. You do not need to bring chairs to the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival — although the festival is general admission and we can’t guarantee a seat for everyone, there is seating at each of our stages. That said, if you have reasonably sized folding chairs you’re especially attached to, we’re not going to stop you from bringing them. (Please don’t bring the giant variety of folding chair that features canopy, side table etc.) You are encouraged to bring a blanket for use on the park lawn.
What happens if it rains?
Please note that we cannot guarantee that specific festival performances won’t be delayed, interrupted or even cancelled in the event of heavy rain, especially at the open-air mainstage – and all festival tickets are non-refundable.
But no matter what, the festival will go on. The stage and audience areas of the other stages are completely covered.
Concert events at the Peoples Natural Gas Park are under cover, either in the Community Foundation Oilhouse or in the Polacek Pavilion, and will continue as scheduled if at all possible.
Where do I park?
Please note that any charges for parking on lots near the festival grounds are not related to the festival and do not support us. More details at the link below.
Is the festival and Peoples Natural Gas Park family-friendly?
Absolutely. Children are welcome at the festival (and all other JAHA-produced events at Peoples Natural Gas Park unless specifically stated otherwise). Children under the age of 12 who are accompanied by a parent/guardian get in free; older children and teens must have a ticket. You are welcome to bring a stroller but please do NOT bring tent shelters or playpens.
What is the refund policy?
The festival is unable to offer ticket refunds for any reason, including but not limited to inclement weather or the unforeseen cancellation of a particular artist’s performance. We’re all in this together!
Can I come back if I need to leave the festival grounds?
No problem! Of course, you need a ticket for each day of the festival. But all ticketed patrons will receive a wristband upon entering the festival, and if you need to leave and return the same day, your wristband will get you right back in without waiting in line at the box office.
Where can I stay?
In 2025 we will again offer hotel packages! Otherwise, there are a range of area hotels to choose from.
We will also offer camping in partnership with Coal Tubin’.
Is the festival handicapped-accessible?
Yes! We value our patrons with mobility issues and do our best to accommodate. Peoples Natural Gas Park has sidewalks and paved surfaces, and the entire festival footprint is flat and relatively compact. Wheelchair-accessible portable toilets are available on the grounds. Mobility devices such as wheelchairs, medical scooters, walkers, canes, etc. are welcome at the festival, and seating is available at each of the stages.
For wheelchair-using VIP Pass holders: in the VIP Lounge (located in one part of the Community Foundation Oilhouse), there is a wheelchair lift that provides accessibility to the upper level of structure where the VIP bar is located, and the restrooms include handicapped-accessible stalls.
How did the festival get its start in Johnstown?
With the help of City and Commonwealth officials, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association recruited the National Folk Festival to Johnstown in 1990 for a three-year run, raising the necessary funds to do so. The National Folk Festival brings “legendary masters and the next generation of dynamic young artists to celebrate the musical soul and cultural roots of America.”
After the National Folk Festival’s three years were over, JAHA picked up the reins and began to produce the event on its own, renaming the event the Johnstown FolkFest; AmeriServ Financial became the title sponsor a year later, and the AmeriServ Johnstown FolkFest came into being. JAHA’s music programming continued the National Folk Festival’s mix of legends and cutting-edge newcomers representing all genres of American music. In 2009, to better convey that all types of music, not just folk, are presented, the name was changed to AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival – and the lineup got better than ever.
Past performers at the festival read like a “who’s who” in roots music, bringing artists to Johnstown who might never play here otherwise; the festival’s multiple-stage format gives patrons the opportunity to sample types of music they might not have heard before. The festival has developed a national reputation for its high-quality programming. Click here to find out more about the festival’s history.
In 2004 the festival moved to its current location adjacent to downtown Johnstown, and fundraising began for what is now the Peoples Natural Gas Park. The park was dedicated in a special concert event on June 16, 2012.
Who benefits from the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival?
Like its predecessor, the AmeriServ Johnstown FolkFest, proceeds from the Flood City Music Festival benefit the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, a non-profit that exists to preserve and showcase Johnstown’s nationally significant stories to the nation. To do that, JAHA provides high-quality educational, cultural and recreational experiences in the area’s unique historic settings. We operate several museums: the Johnstown Flood Museum, which tells the story of the 1889 Johnstown flood; the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden, a house museum interpreting the domestic lives of 18th-century immigrants to the historic Cambria City neighborhood; the Frank & Sylvia Pasquerilla Heritage Discovery Center; which tells the story of immigrants to Cambria City in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the history of steel and iron in Johnstown; and the Johnstown Children’s Museum, which is located on the third floor of the Heritage Discovery Center.
In addition to the music festival, JAHA holds a wide variety of special events throughout the year, at Peoples Natural Gas Park and our museums. In this way, we support the local economy by bringing positive national attention and visitors to our area. The festival is a wonderful program that helps JAHA provide a great experience for local residents, focus national attention here and bring people to visit. Along the way, everyone has a terrific time.
Who funds the festival?
The festival receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
AmeriServ Financial has served as the title sponsor for 29 years in 2024, and we are so grateful!
In addition, a wide variety of business sponsors make the festival financially possible, and in-kind sponsors donate a huge array of products and services that that make the festival go. Thank you!
