“Photo: The colorful blooms of Meerkerk Gardens provides the backdrop for the fourth annual Whidbey Island Folk Festival this weekend.Whidbey Island Folk Music FestivalAug. 5 & 6, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.Meerkerk Gardens, GreenbankAdmission at the door: $7.50 per adult, $12.50 for both days; seniors, $5 and $10; ages 5-16, $1; under 5 free.Lunch, soft-drinks and Whidbey Island Berry Pies will be available, or bring your own picnic.For details on the musicians and Meerkerk Gardens visit the website: www.whidbey.net/meerkerk/gardens.html. Meerkerk is located south ofGreenbank off State Route 525 at Resort Road. Get out the blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets. It’s time for the annual Whidbey Island Folk Music Festival at Meerkerk Gardens in Greenbank, two days of acoustic music performed by Puget Sound musicians outdoors in a natural amphitheater of tall fir trees and cool lawn, surrounded by the colors of summer in bloom.The concerts are held each day from 11 a.m. -5 p.m. The festival is celebrating its fourth year of acoustic music heard in a magical landscape.The idea behind the Whidbey Island Folk Music Festival is to provide excellent music in the great out-of-doors: culture in horticulture, said Kristi O’Donnell, producer. O’Donnell has been creating music and art venues in park settings for more than 15 years. Our intent is to have an inspirational concert series that focuses on music on a Whidbey Island scale — meaning small attentive audiences, O’Donnell said.The gardens are in their summer colors now, with five miles of nature trails to hike through 43 acres of woodland preserve. Late blooming fragrant rhodies are now gems of the garden…discovering them is like finding the bounty on a treasure hunt! O’Donnell said.Performing in this magical landscape this weekend will be artists in a wide range of musical genres: lyrical hammered dulcimer, blues, Celtic, Scandinavian, American, Hungarian-Brazilian, Neo-Renaissance fusion.Saturday’s lineup includes Carolyn Cruso, Kinzel & Hyde and Stone Circle. On Sunday, listen to the Filucy Hootchie Kootchie Band, 3 Leg Torso and Telynor.Carolyn Cruso Her music combines original and traditional hammered dulcimer. The Seattle-based singer is a seasoned performer, having toured widely in the United States and Europe for more than a decade with Robert Almblade. In recent years as a solo performer, she has developed a strong following who know her not only as a talented multi-instrumentalist but also as a powerful and expressive singer/songwriter.Cruso performs original compositions as well as an eclectic selection of traditional pieces from Ireland, Scotland, France and other European countries. Visit her Web site at www.teleport.com/~ccruso/. Kinzel & HydeFrom Portland, Ore., the duo plays uptown blues with guitar, harmonica, and vocals. Proficient on the Blues Harp, Hyde came to Portland on a bus, where she met Stu Kinzel, guitarist and songwriter. Hyde and Kinzel both write and sing tunes. Hyde’s work often starts with the words, sometimes as poems or sonnets. Her work has been published in the Library of Congress. She also wrote a poem on the back of a menu that was narrated on an audiotape by Patrick Stewart, known to Star Trek fans as Jean Luc Picard. Visit the Web site, www.cascadeblues.org/NWBlues/LynnAnnHyde/LynnAnnHyde.htm. Stone CircleA Seattle trio blends harp, flute, fiddle and vocals in fresh Celto-Scandinavian music. The result is a lively and evocative performance by one of the Northwest’s most innovative Celtic groups. Coming together from many Northern traditions, the three members bring a fresh new perspective to the age-old traditional music of Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia.Filucy Hootchie Kootchie BandGreat music for families with children by four musicians on guitar, bass, accordion and vocals. The group from Tacoma (named after Filucy Bay near Longbranch, Wash.) brings a quirky, imaginary world to the stage, where a troupe of pigs polka, cows tango, a seagull sings rock ‘n’ roll, and a sled dog sings the joys of racing. Their music evokes rural American life, with styles that include German polka, Mexican polka, Argentine tango, Sousa style march, Swedish waltz, and 12-bar blues and American swing. For more, visit their Web site at members.aol.com/fhkb/. 3 Leg TorsoThis Hungarian-Brazilian trio from Portland performs with verve on violin, cello, and accordion. It’s an ensemble that has one foot in modern chamber music, one foot in Eastern European music and one foot that is always ready to surprise you by popping up in the oddest of places. 3 Leg Torso has performed in festivals and on radio and has collaborated with many of Portland’s top choreographers. Their Web site is: www.3legtorso.com/index.html.Telynor John and Anna Peekstok of Seattle create a Neo-Renaissance folk fusion with hurdy-gurdy, cittern, nykelharpa and vocals, playing music from the British Isles, France, Appalachia, Eastern Europe, and beyond.Ranging in time from truly ancient to originals composed in the styles of traditional folk and early music. The duo has played festivals, coffeehouses and concerts, recorded four albums, published a song book, done some touring in the United States and Canada, and done studio work for local and national recording artists. Their Web site is: members.aol.com/telynor/.The directors and founders of the Whidbey Island Folk Music Festival are producer Kristi O’Donnell, director of the Meerkerk Rhododendron Gardens; artistic director Harper Tasche, an internationally traveling harp performer, teacher and composer; and Keith Allen Bowers, technical director, whose extensive experience as a musician and sound technician have made possible the audio quality required for the outdoor concert series.”