Singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick. Photo by Shervin Lainez

The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance is hosting its 30th conference, from Wednesday to Sunday, at the Holiday Inn by The Bay in Portland.

This means there will be a few hundred folk, roots and Americana musicians in the city for a variety of panels, workshops, keynote speeches and other industry-related gatherings.

It also means that some of those musicians will be performing shows that the general public can attend.

One Longfellow Square, a partner of the alliance, is presenting three shows. Tickets to all of them are available at onelongfellowsquare.com.

Canadian singer-songwriter Garnet Rogers, a keynote speaker at the conference, will perform with Julien Taylor on Thursday at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, also at 8 p.m., another keynote speaker, Boston-based singer-songwriter Melissa Ferrick, takes the stage with Sweet Petunia opening the show.

Tickets to both of these shows are $25 in advance, $35 at the door.

On Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m, catch a showcase show featuring banjo player Benny Bleu and singer-songwriter Abigayle Kompst. Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.

“These performances provide Portlanders with an experience usually limited to conference attendees,” said Leslie Wolf, communications director at One Longfellow Square.

The Northeast Folk Alliance Alliance is an affiliate of Folk Alliance International. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, the nonprofit describes itself as “a community of passionate and driven artists, managers, agents, DJs, festivals, record labels and fans who exist to keep the tradition of folk music thriving through preservation, presentation and promotion.”