JOHNSTOWN, Pa., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2003 AmeriServ Financial
Johnstown FolkFest is expecting its biggest crowd ever -- 125,000. AmeriServ
Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASRV) is the holding company of AmeriServ Financial
Bank. The annual three-day music and food festival, which will be held over
Labor Day weekend from August 29-31, is the largest festival in the region
with free admission.
Produced by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA), the AmeriServ
Financial Johnstown FolkFest brings nationally known performers of traditional
music to Johnstown, a western Pennsylvania city with a rich history of steel
making and coal mining. The outdoor festival is held in the ten-block Cambria
City National Historic District, which is known for its nine ethnic churches.
The FolkFest, which has developed a national reputation for its quality,
includes more than 20 musical acts presenting more than 60 performances. Five
main stages are continuously programmed throughout the event, and more than 60
food vendors offer a wide array of ethnic food.
"We always attract a tremendous crowd from the immediate area," said Juli
Gardill, festival coordinator for JAHA. "The FolkFest even serves as an
unofficial homecoming for many people who grew up in the area or have family
here. But our attendance is growing because music lovers from the larger
region -- Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia, for example -- are
noticing the quality of the musical talent, and more and more are making the
trip to be a part of it."
This year's Johnstown FolkFest will include musical performers from a wide
variety of genres, including blues, jazz, polka, bluegrass, Latin, roots
country, folk, Irish and rock'n'roll. Headliners are the Louisiana Throwdown,
Alex Torres y Los Reyes Latinos, and The Prodigals.
The festival came to Johnstown in 1990 as the National Folk Festival,
staying for two additional years before moving on to another American city. At
that point, JAHA began to produce the event as the Johnstown FolkFest.
AmeriServ Financial has served as the title sponsor for the 10 years JAHA has
produced the festival, and every year the festival has grown in attendance.
JAHA is a non-profit that exists to preserve and showcase Johnstown's
nationally significant stories to the nation. It also operates two museums,
the Johnstown Flood Museum and the Heritage Discovery Center, as well as a
variety of other programs held throughout the year.
For more information about the 2003 AmeriServ Financial Johnstown
FolkFest, visit http://www.jaha.org or call 888-222-1889.
SOURCE AmeriServ Financial, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ameriservfinancial.com
http://www.jaha.org
CONTACT:
Shelley Johansson of the Johnstown Area
Heritage Association (JAHA), +1-814-539-1889, or +1-888-222-1889,
or sjohansson@JAHA.org
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