When the Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra took the stage at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center, the audience was seated and listening attentively. However, as the bearded and dreadlocked members of the band played their gypsy-folk music, more and more of the concert-goers were possessed to abandon their chairs and stomp along.

This performance marked the ending of the Champaign-Urbana Folk and Roots Festival, which was held Friday and Saturday in downtown Urbana. Folk music enthusiasts had the chance to perform, jam, dance and see international acts.

From a “Blues Harmonica 101” session to contra dances, attendees could choose from a broad spectrum of folk- and roots-related events in which to participate.

“We make sure that during the day on Saturday there are all sorts of jam sessions going on,“ said Matt Winters, who coordinates bookings for the festival. “The local musicians love to come out and play and be a part of things.”

Some of the sessions incorporated performances by professional musicians. Those performances included a program about the British Columbian gypsy-folk band Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra’s songwriting process, a Jimmie Rodgers-style yodeling workshop and a workshop by country folk artist Robbie Fulks that invited festival-goers to learn fiddle tunes for the guitar. The workshops and performances covered a wide variety of folk and roots music.

Jeff Arrigo, Champaign resident, attended Fulks’ Saturday workshop and also performed at The Iron Post earlier that day. Arrigo attended events that covered a wide range of genres relating to folk and roots.

“We saw rockabilly, then we saw Dixieland jazz, and then we saw … kind of old-timey mountain folk, and then we saw Robbie Fulks,” he said. “Those are four completely different styles of music.”

Many events focused on the idea of community music. Some of the youngest participants in the festival performed in the “Homebrew Ukulele Union Singalong.” Matthew Thibeault, assistant professor of music education at the University, had his students teach Robeson Elementary School students how to play the ukulele.

Led by Thibeault, they invited everyone in the room to sing along to popular music as well as traditional folk songs.

“Making music together is very special  — singing and having no distinction between the audience and the performers,” Thibeault said. “Everyone’s a potential participant.”

Thibeault, who created the Homebrew Ukulele Union, allows participants to play ukulele and participate in a community musical experience.

“We want these students not just to make music with each other, but it’s really important that they put it in a community context,” he said. “Our success comes from getting other people to participate.”

Winters said people often come to the festival for one act but end up seeing and learning much more.

“You can go between the different venues and just get to see a lot of great music,” he said. “You don’t know where the special moments are going to come.”

Maddie can be reached at [email protected].