More than perhaps any Galesburg native, the legacy of Carl Sandburg endures around his hometown.For over two decades members of the community have organized a festival that celebrates the man’s legacy as a poet, historian and folk musician.
The 2018 edition of the Carl Sandburg Festival kicks off Wednesday and will run until Saturday with a string of Sandburg related events, all free and open to the public.
Tom Foley, member of the Festival’s Planning Committee, says that for the first event they’re bringing in a jazz musician.
“He’s actually a Knoxville kid, Matt Wilson and he’s going to bring four other musicians from the East Coast and they’ll be basing the whole concert at the Orpheum on Matt’s CD, which he calls ‘Honey and Salt,” Foley says.
Honey and Salt is also the name of a book of poems written by Carl Sandburg and released the year of his death 1963.
Mark K. Smith will host a poetry slam on Friday at 8 p.m. at 156 East in Downtown Galesburg.
Smith is credited with founding the poetry slam movement, for which he earned the nickname Slam Papi.
For a full list of festival events visit sandburg.edu/festival.
