The 41st annual Appalachian Festival brings the cultural traditions of Appalachia to Coney Island with down-home crafts, storytelling performances, traditional dance, homecookin' and live music from bands like Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers, Calamity Rain, Wild Carrot & The Roots Bands, Rabbit Hash String Band and more.  

Accomplished local Americana duo Wild Carrot and their accompanying Roots Band present a special family-friendly concert Saturday morning. "Our Roots are Showing" is an interactive "edutainment" concert using the musicians' wide-ranging grasp on American music styles to teach about the history of everything from Jazz to Folk to Blues.  

It'll be pouring CD release parties this weekend, with five very disparate area bands celebrating the completion of their newest studio offerings: altrockers Seabird, Pop Rock band Lovely Crash, Soul Jazz outfit iolite, Cajun vets Lagniappe and Americana favorites Wild Carrot. Get all the details here.  

"Don't name your band after anything that can be put on a mug," says Wild Carrot vocalist/guitarist Pam Temple, offering a cup of coffee adorned with their namesake vegetable. "Over the years we've been given hundreds of things with carrots on them. We have carrot dog toys."