July 29-30
Johnstown, PA
2022
Don’t miss blues legend Joe Louis Walker with special guest HABATAT on Friday, November 12! This show is presented by the Chautauqua Regional Music Alliance in partnership with the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (which produces the festival). We’ll be inside the (heated) Community Foundation Oilhouse for this show, and Balance Restaurant will be on hand, too. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 DOS. Get them here!
Remaining festival merchandise includes short- and long-sleeved T-shirts, and crewneck sweatshirts. No XXL, limited sizes of short-sleeved T-shirts especially.
Locals, you can stop by the Heritage Discovery Center to get yours — out-of-towners, shoot us an email to info@jaha.org with your contact information, and we’ll be in touch to arrange a sale by mail.
Short-sleeved T-shirts: $20
Sweatshirts: $35
Long-sleeved T-shirts: $25
The AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival 2021 is in the books! Join us for a fun, FREE post-festival concert with two favorite local bands from this year’s bill: FlowerChild (pictured) and Desperadoes. We’ll be inside the Community Foundation Oilhouse, where we’ll listen to great music, enjoy draft beer, and relive this year’s festival.
Schedule is as follows:
Gates: 6:00 pm
Desperadoes: 7:00 pm
FlowerChild: 9:00 pm
We’ll have a food truck onsite, too (specifics TBA).
What a festival it was! After having to cancel the festival in 2020 – and having to delay the 2021 event from our usual summer timeframe – it was so wonderful to be able to present the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival once again. Our sponsors rose up in force to make it happen, and we are deeply grateful. First, we’d like to thank AmeriServ Financial, our title sponsor for a truly astounding 26 years.
The 2021 AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival kicks off TOMORROW (FRIDAY, OCT. 1)! Gates open at 1:00 pm; first music is at 2:00.Single-day tickets and 2-day passes are available online or at the gate of Peoples Natural Gas Park. (As of close of business on Thursday, tickets are no longer available at the Johnstown Flood Museum and Heritage Discovery Center.) See you soon!
Festival food like cheesesteaks, gourmet treats like lemon parm brussel sprouts, pizza, fancy coffee, BBQ, tacos, Polish cuisine — our vendor menus are looking delicious! Check out the full list.
As usual, Vons United Beverage has chosen a terrific menu of beers for our festival! Here’s what’s on tap:
Philadelphia-based guitarist Justin Mazer has announced he’ll play our festival with Midnight North, who will be on the Bud Light Mainstage on Saturday from 6:00-8:00 pm! Mazer has been featured in publications like Rolling Stone and Relix, and has recorded with past fest artists American Babies and Steve Kimock, among many others. He has appeared at major music appearances at major music festivals such as Firefly, Lockn, and Peach, as well as international cruises Jam Cruise and Cayamo. We’re excited he’ll be part of it!
Here’s recent press coverage of the festival! We’ll update this page as new articles and interviews become available.
WQED: Ron Carnevali, festival chairman, was interviewed by WQED’s Bryan Sejvar. “It’s the sponsor support that allows us to book bands like Bruce Hornsby…and instead of eroding [due to the pandemic] ours stepped up, like our title sponsor, AmeriServ.” Hear more of Ron’s insights into this year’s planning.
Billy Price: We’ve also posted a terrific interview with Billy Price, “Of all the festivals in the greater Pittsburgh area, I think that hands down the Flood City Music Festival is the best…they curate the festival in a way that no one else around here really does. I just love being there,” Billy says in this interview.
Maggie Rose: “There’s so many good people on the bill for this festival that I’ll probably be hanging around the grounds….I think one of the best reasons to play festivals is we’re all sharing each other’s fan bases, and typically it’s music lovers there. They come to see one person, and they leave as fans of everybody on the bill,” says Maggie Rose in this interview.
Michael Glabicki: “The essence of the songs are there, and the meaning of the songs are there, and we’re building off of that in an even stronger way,” says Michael Glabicki of touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Rusted Root’s “When I Woke.” Listen to the full interview here.
The next exciting show in the Oilhouse Live series! We’ll be inside the Community Foundation Oilhouse, featuring bluesman Joe Louis Walker (opening act TBA). Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 day of show. Get tickets online here.
More about all post-festival events at the park here!
Behold the festival’s T-shirt design (created by Georgie Carnevali) — the back will feature the festival lineup, in similar colors. This design will be available on a short-sleeved black T-shirt as well as a black sweatshirt.
We’ll also offer a long-sleeved grey T-shirt with our festival poster design, as well as baseball caps.
For anyone who’d like to print out a schedule, here it is:
You can access the festival map here.
The Johnstown Area Heritage Association, which produces the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival, prioritizes the health and well-being of everybody at our festival. Initially we were hoping that moving the festival dates to Oct. 1-2 would alleviate all concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, but obviously that has not proven to be true.
Visit our schedule page for stage and set times.
A very special concert is coming to the park on Monday, August 16 — Ana Popovic! This incredible blues singer and guitarist, originally from Serbia, will be presented in partnership with Chautauqua Region Music Alliance (CRMA) at Peoples Natural Gas Park. Special guest is Black Cat Moan.
Early-bird prices on 2-day passes to the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival (Oct. 1-2) are available through 11:59 pm on July 31 only! After that, prices will increase $10 on both general admission and VIP passes.
You can get yours online at this site, or if you’re local, you can buy hard tickets in person at the Johnstown Flood Museum or Heritage Discovery Center.
The Johnstown Area Heritage Association, which produces the festival, has announced a 2-show free concert series at Peoples Natural Gas Park, made possible by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Friday, July 9: The National Reserve with special guest Van Waylon
Founded and fronted by singer-guitarist Sean Walsh, The National Reserve mine an archetypal musical seam, marrying gutbucket R&B, Laurel Canyon lyricism, New Orleans funk workouts, late night soul, and bluesy, boozy rock ‘n’ roll to create their own timeless brand of American music. This fantastic touring act played our concert series in 2019, and we’re excited to welcome them back!
Johnstown favorites Van Waylon will open up the show.
Gates will open at 6:00 p.m.
Van Waylon: 7:00 p.m.
The National Reserve: 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, July 24: Buffalo Rose with special guests Mama Rose and The Whiskey River Panhandlers
Listening to Buffalo Rose is like driving on the open road with the windows down, letting the breezes of various musical styles wash over you. Buffalo Rose commandeers the shimmering and electrifying riffs of the mandolin (Bryce Rabideau), the cascading guitar arpeggios of folk and bluegrass (Shane McLaughlin), the ringing purity of the dobro (Malcolm Inglis), and the steady percussive thrum of upright bass (Jason Rafalak), providing a effervescent blanket of sound under and around which the ethereal harmonies of Lucy Clabby, Margot Jezerc, and McLaughlin float. There’s a singular beauty in every Buffalo Rose song, whether the group is covering Madonna’s “Borderline” or delivering their stirring original material.
Mama Corn is central Pennsylvania’s premier bluegrass band. This charismatic quartet runs the gamut of song and style, and can please any crowd. Their latest record, “Live and Learn” was released in January of 2017, coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the the band.
Local favorites Whiskey River Panhandlers will reunite to open the evening with a special short set to commemorate the 10th anniversary of their disc, “Songs from Grandma’s Radio”! It’s an impossible paradox of the best Americana music that every song sounds familiar yet new, but The Whiskey River Panhandlers pull it off. Although some carefully-chosen covers are included in the Panhandlers’ sets, most of what you’ll hear is original songs whose taproots run deep, evoking a simpler time when pretty much all music was acoustic and live.
Gates will open at 5:30 pm
Whiskey River Panhandlers: 6:00 pm
Mama Corn: 7:00 pm
Buffalo Rose: 9:00 pm
Today the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival announced the remainder of its lineup, joining headliners Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, and Uprooted featuring Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root.
“As usual, we think we have several artists on this bill whose stars are on the rise – in particular, Maggie Rose, Marco Benevento, and Midnight North,” said Ron Carnevali, festival chairman. “Plus, we’ll see our old friend Billy Price, who has been playing in this region since the 70s and never fails to delight Johnstown audiences. And some of the local bands we’re featuring this year, FlowerChild and Desperadoes, are Johnstown institutions.”
The two-day, three-stage festival is held at Peoples Natural Gas Park, a venue that was developed by the festival’s producer, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association.
AmeriServ Financial is the festival’s title sponsor for a record 26th year.
“After a tough year of pandemic cancelations, we are thrilled to bring music back to the park this year, thanks to the steadfast support of sponsors like AmeriServ Financial,” Carnevali added. “We’re even planning some improvements to the festival experience this year, like new mainstage pageantry that will include video reinforcement.”
Artists announced today are:
Midnight North
Marco Benevento
Maggie Rose
Roosevelt Collier
Billy Price Band
Colebrook Road
West Philadelphia Orchestra
FlowerChild
Jukehouse Bombers
Desperadoes
Crawdad Joe
Ne’er-Do-Wells
In a press conference today, the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival announced its Friday and Saturday headliners: Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers, and Uprooted featuring Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root. The festival, which normally takes place the first weekend in August, will take place Oct. 1-2 this year.
“We have wanted to present Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers at the festival for years – they are an act with almost limitless appeal for a wide range of audiences. We are thrilled to be presenting them on Saturday night of the 2021 festival,” said Ron Carnevali, festival chairman. “And Uprooted featuring Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root is one of the most popular acts ever to come out of the Pittsburgh region, and they’ll deliver a terrific show for us on Friday.”
The two-day, three-stage festival is held at Peoples Natural Gas Park, a venue that was developed by the festival’s producer, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association.
AmeriServ Financial is the festival’s title sponsor for a record 26th year.
“We are thrilled to be moving forward with JAHA and the festival committee to bring this widely anticipated event back to our community. The musical line up is first rate and will definitely provide a much welcomed wide array of music choices for festival goers to enjoy,” said Jeff Stopko, AmeriServ Financial, Inc., president and CEO.
The remaining 12 performers will be announced on festival social media tomorrow (May 20), one every 15 minutes, beginning at 10:00.
Early-bird two-day passes are $40, or $55 for a VIP Pass, which includes access to the VIP Lounge and the site’s only full bar and indoor restrooms, as well as a special tented viewing area at the mainstage. Single-day tickets will go on sale when early-bird prices expire at 11:59 pm on July 31. Regular prices for passes are $50 for two-day passes, $65 for VIP, and single-day tickets will be $25 for Friday night, and $40 for Saturday night.
Tickets are being sold through the Eventgroove platform this year, and may be bought online beginning at 2:00 pm on Thursday. Passes will go on sale in person at the Heritage Discovery Center and Johnstown Flood Museum on Friday. JAHA members are entitled to a free upgrade from general admission to VIP passes – to take advantage of this benefit, passes must be purchased in person (limit 4 per family membership.)
We’re excited to confirm that we are moving forward with the 2021 festival on Oct. 1-2. Lineup announcement is coming up in mid-May. Stay tuned!
The Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA) is announcing tentative plans to hold its signature event, the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival, in October 2021 rather than its usual August timeframe. The 2020 festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event has been tentatively set for Oct. 1-2, 2021. Ron Carnevali, festival chairman, said that a final announcement will be made confirming the festival will go forward no later than May 1.
“Our event requires such a long planning period that we think it’s prudent to delay from our usual dates – for example, tickets usually go on sale in mid-March, which just isn’t feasible under current circumstances,” Carnevali said. “But we wanted to let people know our tentative plans now, so that our sponsors, fans and friends can plan accordingly as we all wait for the COVID vaccine to become more widely available.”
Carnevali said that AmeriServ Financial has signed on to be the event’s title sponsor in 2021.
“This will be AmeriServ’s 26th year as title sponsor,” Carnevali noted. “That is an incredible record of corporate support, and we are grateful for AmeriServ’s ongoing commitment to our event.”
“We, too, are enthusiastic about the possibility of being able to resume the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival. It is truly an event that brings people of all ages together for a weekend of great music,” said Jeff Stopko, AmeriServ president and CEO. “We also recognize the amount of work that goes into planning an event of this magnitude and support our partners at the Johnstown Area Heritage Association in making whatever decision is best as the year progresses.”
Several major music festivals that are normally held in spring or summer have announced fall dates, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (moving from April to October); Lockn’ (Arrington, Va.; June to October); and Bonnaroo (Manchester, Tn.; June to September).
“We’re certainly hopeful that daily life will be returning to normal sooner rather than later,” Carnevali said. “For example, JAHA expects to hold standalone concerts and other events this summer at Peoples Natural Gas Park, which is, of course, an outdoor venue. But those events do not require nearly as much advance planning.”
Festival fans can stay up to date on festival news at www.floodcitymusic.com, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/floodcitymusic.
The Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA) has today announced the cancelation of its signature event, the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival, which was to be held Jul. 31-Aug. 1, 2020 at Peoples Natural Gas Park.
“We waited to make this decision as long as we could, hoping for more clarity on when large gatherings like concerts and festivals would be possible – but at this point, no one knows, and we cannot continue in a holding pattern,” said Ron Carnevali, festival chairman. “It is now time to let our patrons, sponsors, volunteers, and artists know that the 2020 festival is canceled. We are deeply disappointed, as we’d done a great deal of planning and were even ready to announce a lineup.”
“As an organization that is committed to the economic vitality of the communities we serve, we too, had hoped the festival would go on as planned,” said Jeff Stopko, president and CEO of AmeriServ Financial, Inc. “However, it’s important to do what’s right to ensure the safety and protection of our residents and visitors. This pandemic has certainly proven that it is not business as usual and we must be patient and do what’s right to be able to move beyond this in a planned and orderly manner. We look forward to once again sponsoring the festival in 2021 and joining with community and JAHA leaders to bring visitors back to our great city.”
In addition to the potential health risks, Carnevali pointed to challenges related to sponsorship support and selling advance tickets.
“Our sponsors are the lifeblood of the event and have been incredibly supportive, but many of them are feeling the financial effects of this crisis,” Carnevali said. “And in the current climate, it would be extremely difficult to sell advance tickets.”
Other major local and regional events that have canceled include Thunder in the Valley (Johnstown), Three Rivers Arts Festival (Pittsburgh), Deutschtown Music Festival (Pittsburgh), Central PA Festival of the Arts (State College), Delfest (Cumberland, MD), and many others.
If the all-clear is given for larger events, JAHA hopes to hold a concert at Peoples Natural Gas Park in September 2020.
“We don’t yet know if this will be possible, but it’s something to hope for,” Carnevali said. “And we have every intention of bringing the festival back in 2021.”
What an incredible festival! So many give and do so much to make this event possible, and we are grateful to all. We especially want to acknowledge AmeriServ Financial, for 25 years of support; stage sponsors Bud Light/Vons United Beverage, 1st Summit Bank, and First Commonwealth; major sponsors UPMC Health Plan, Laurel Auto Group, and CTC Foundation; and the many performer and ticket sponsors. We appreciate each one of you.
We’d also like to thank our media sponsors for helping get the word out, and the in-kind sponsors whose products and services help power the festival. Finally, a big shout-out to our volunteers, who turn out in force every year to help make this event friendly and fun.
Mark your calendars for July 31-August 1, 2020, everyone — and in the meantime keep up with the rest of the season at Peoples Natural Gas Park on the Concerts & Events page.
We have a terrific list of domestic, craft, and import beers and hard lemonades to choose from! Our thanks to Vons United Beverage, one of our major sponsors, for putting together such a varied list for us.
Domestic:Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Yuengling Lager and Pilsner, Rolling Rock, Shock Top, B&V Spiked Seltzers and Hoop Teas.
Import/craft: Fat Tire, Citradelic, Goose Island IPA, Golden Road: Mango Cart; BluePoint Mad Sea’d, Landshark Lager, Stella Artois, Goose Island Summer Time.
We appreciated these two Pittsburgh media hits this week:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 29: “Best Concerts of the Week”
Pittsburgh City Paper, July 30:“Johnstown music festival boasts an eclectic lineup,” Key quote: “For many Pittsburghers, sometimes traveling to events outside of the city limits can seem like too much effort. But there’s a music festival happening in Johnstown this weekend that is more than worth the trip.”
Check out the Concerts & Events page to learn more about the Johnstown Film Festival, a food truck festival, Brews & Blues in the Valley, a free Woodstock commemoration concert, and a benefit featuring Donnie Iris!
Here’s a rundown of some of the festival press so far, with links when available! We’ll update this post as much as we can.
Fri., July 19: “Gin Blossoms, Cowboy Mouth to headline Flood City festival in Johnstown,” a Tribune-Review preview.
Sun., July 21: “Something for everyone: Four bands will headline AmeriServ Flood City music extravaganza,” a Tribune-Democrat preview article.
Mon., July 22: Podcast interview with Ron Carnevali, festival chairman, on WQED-FM.
Friday, July 26: Interview with Elias Khouri on Johnstown’s Rocky 99.
Sat., July 27: Interview with Brownout on Pittsburgh’s 91.3 WYEP, on The Soul Show.
Sun., July 28: “Gin Blossoms to headline weekend showcase,” a Tribune-Democrat interview with Robin Wilson of Gin Blossoms. Key quote about their show with us: ““They are going to get all of the hits, for sure,” Wilson said, “plus some our personal favorites and a bunch of the new material, too.”
Sun, July 28: “Cowboy Mouth singer says crowd ‘in for a great time,'” a Tribune-Democrat interview with Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth. Key quote: “When you come to a Cowboy Mouth show, my goal isn’t just to entertain you or play some songs that you might have heard 20 years ago,” he said. “Our goal is to make sure everybody leaves feeling 100 times more better than they have in a long time. You don’t need a reason to celebrate, just celebrate because you are you.”
Sunday, July 28: “Brownout combines hip-hop, Latin sounds,” a Tribune-Democrat interview with Greg Gonzalez of Brownout. Key quote: ““We have a large stage where we can move around and interact with a large group of people,” he said. “A lot of times at festivals, people aren’t there to see you, they’re there to see something else and not considered your band an option, but afterward they come away as fans.”
Sunday, July 28: “Improvisation key to Ghost Light’s connection with audience,” a Tribune-Democrat interview with Holly Bowling of Ghost Light. Key quote: “I think there’s a desire for the songs themselves to connect with someone’s own experience – and the improvisation to let people slip away and be transported somewhere else.”
Sunday, July 28: “Bill Kirchen looks forward to ‘familiar faces,'” a Tribune-Democrat interview. Key quote: ” It’s great to get back, and I have great affection for this festival,” he said. “I felt like I was connecting with individuals. I got the old trombone out and marched around the crowd with the band. I had some people send me great photos of me interacting with the crowds.”
Sunday, July 28: “Altoona’s Lozier plans to deliver ‘high-energy’ show,” a Tribune-Democrat interview with Davina Lozier of Davina & the Vagabonds.
Monday, July 29: Interview with Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth on Johnstown’s Rocky 99.
Johnstown’s Inclined Plane will be open until 1:00 am (which is a half-hour past the conclusion of the late-night shows) on both days of the festival ! This is a great way for residents of the old Westmont neighborhood to get to the festival without having to drive or park. Our thanks to CamTran for keeping it open for us!
Visit the vending page for more! We’ll post the beer list the week of the festival.
A free Woodstock commemoration show, a Donnie Iris & the Cruisers concert to benefit Johnstown’s free medical clinic, a film festival and a food truck festival are some of the post-Flood City events to look forward to — details here!
