Fourth annual Folk Fest in Lava Hot Springs

If you like folk music, Lava Hot Springs was the place to be today. The Greater Lava Hot Springs Prosperity Foundation organized its fourth annual Folk Festival.

Today, music filled Main Street in Lava Hot Springs. Artists from near and far gathered at stores and restaurants to play music for the community.

However, they didn’t do it for the money, but rather to help children to pick up an instrument of their own.

“Our education program for music was cut considerably. The whole inspiration behind starting the festival was to introduce our youth in the community to music and the opportunities that music can have in their life,” event coordinator Gail Palen said.

One hundred percent of the proceeds will go toward the musical program at Lava Hot Springs Elementary School.

“A lot of nonprofits will retain a portion of those funds. We’re not doing that. We want 100 percent% of the proceeds to go to the school and to help kids in the community,” chair of the Lava Hot Springs Prosperity Foundation, Michael Vice said.

Last year, the school used a portion of that money to send students to the symphony in Idaho Falls. “It’s neat to hear what the school is doing with the funds. It makes us feel like wow, we really… it was worth our efforts,” Vice said.

Tahra Waller, a performer at the festival, is returning to the stage after a 12-year break from singing. She had a PBS interstitial show for kids that aired nationally. Today, she couldn’t be any happier to help the cause.

“Music changes a person. It just brings the best out of people, and for children to start to play music early in life, it’s huge. As they grow older, they feel that they can do it more and more, and maybe they will and maybe they won’t, but it opens doors,” Waller said.

Last year, they raised more than $3,000. This year, they hope to reach $4,000. They are also holding an instrument drive. To find out where to donate, you can visit the Lava Hot Springs Prosperity Foundation website.