The Philadelphia Folk Festival is returning in 2024. John Oates and Gangstagrass are headlining

The initial lineup for the 2024 Philadelphia Folk Festival has been announced.

John Oates and Gangstagrass are the headliners for the 61st PFF, which is set to return to the Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford Township near Schwenksville on Aug. 15-18.

Oates — who has been warring with his Hall & Oates partner Daryl Hall in a legal dispute that first made headlines last November — is going forward with a solo career with a new album, Reunion, due next month.

Gangstagrass is a Brooklyn based hip-hop bluegrass whose members include Philadelphia rapper, R-Son the Voice of Reason. The group is best known for its song “Long Hard Times to Come,” the theme song to the FX crime drama Justified.

Last year, the Folk Festival, founded in 1962, was not staged in any form for the first time in its history. The PFF formerly billed itself as the longest continuously running outdoor music festival in the U.S.

It was one of several annual Philly area music festivals that were canceled in 2023, including Made in America and Delaware’s Firefly Festival. Those gatherings have also been canceled this year, but the smaller PFF is returning, with several performers announced this week as supporting acts.

They include BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Craig Bickhardt, John Flynn, Alice Howe and Freebo, the Faux Paws, the Great Groove Band, Windborne, and Aaron Nathans & Michael G. Ronstadt.

Kimberly Sinclair, who is in charge of booking festival talent said Wednesday that many more acts have yet to be announced.

Last year’s festival was canceled in February 2023 after Philadelphia Folksong Society president Miles Thompson told members they were in “dire financial straits” that left the organization close to bankruptcy.

In December, the PFF announced a new management team, with Andrew and Michael Braunfeld of Blind Justice Music taking over as festival directors and Sinclair named festival artistic director. The Braunfelds are former producers of the Spring Gulch Folk Festival in New Holland, Pa., as well as partners in the Conshohocken law firm Masterson Braunfeld.

As is its tradition, the festival will kick off on the Thursday night before the main festivities begin with a show on the Camp Stage for tent and RV ticket holders. That lineup features Shanna in a Dress, Miss Emily, and the Adam Ezra Group. Gangstagrass will headline Friday night, and Oates is the Saturday night headliner.

Tickets are on sale at Folkfest.org.