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What is the National Folk Festival?
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A large-scale, outdoor event presented free to the public, the National Folk Festival celebrates the richness and variety of American culture(See more). It features a broad array of music and dance performances, workshops, storytelling, parades, dances, crafts exhibitions and ethnic foods.
Programming embraces the heritage and traditions of all Americans - from families who have been here for centuries to the most recent immigrants.
Audiences are treated to blues, bluegrass, rockabilly, gospel, klezmer, jazz, cowboy, polka, old-time, western swing, mariachi, honky-tonk, Tex-Mex, rhythm and blues and zydeco music as well as traditional music and dance from Cajun, Native American, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, East Asian, Hispanic, African and Pacific Island cultures.
Exhibits and demonstrations feature the finest craftspeople in traditions ranging from pottery, quilting and needlework to instrument making and wood carving. Processions and parades gather visitors together; storytelling and children's activities teach and entertain at the same time. Delicious ethnic and regional food specialities are available throughout the festival site. |
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| About the National Folk Festival |
Plan to attend the 63rd National Folk Festival in downtown East Lansing from August 10-12, 2001 featuring outstanding traditional musicians and dancers from across our nation. Each is an exceptional artist and incredible entertainer, and ranks among the finest practitioners in their respective genres. The National Folk Festival is an extraordinary event that both enriches and entertains.
Visitors will enjoy a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere with great ethnic and good, old- fashioned American foods, craft exhibits and demonstrations, children's activities, traditional games and much more. A dance pavilion will provide a place for visitors to kick up their heels and dance along to the great sounds of bands performing polka, Cajun, blues, Caribbean, Tex-Mex, contra dancing and more.
The National Folk Festival is Free to the Public. |
| Travel Information |
Finding us is easy. Take any major highway to US 127. From the North, exit at Grand River Avenue. From the South, exit at Trowbridge Road. Please note, Interstate 496 will be under construction during the Festival (http://www.fix496.com). Signs will identify festival parking locations. Free parking, with free shuttle service to the downtown festival site, will be available at Hagadorn and South Service Road on the south side of the Michigan State University Campus (the "Green Route") and at the Abbott Center, 1400-1500 Abbott Road (the "Red Route").
The Festival will take place in downtown East Lansing. Travel and lodging information can be accessed through the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau's Visitor Center by calling their toll free number, 888-2-Lansing. Ask about hotel packages for the National Folk Festival. The Visitor Center is located at 1223 Turner Street, Lansing, MI 48906 and can provide information on many other interesting sites in the greater Lansing area. |
| The 2001 National Folk Festival |
| To date, 16 diverse musical acts have been confirmed:
Other genres planned include musicians in Andean, Gospel, Jamaican and Polka styles.
For those who enjoyed the NFF 2000 Crossroads Stage, focusing on traditions in clothing and body adornment, look for more Talkers and Tellers programming throughout this year's festival. Artists in arts and ethnic food traditions will provide audiences with insightful experiences from their own lives. The Folk Arts Marketplace, Taste of Traditions Food Court, Children's Folk Activities Area and Traditional Games Tent complete the sights, sounds, flavors and fun of this rich cultural celebration
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East lansing Recreation and Arts will again sponsor crafts workshops this year for those looking for a more "hands-on" experience. And dance workshops, offered on three separate evenings prior to the festival, give people the chance to perfect some dance steps they can use under the dance tents each night at NFF.
Transportation to and from the site will be by shuttle bus from off-site parking.
Trolley service will move visitors around on-site. For those with disabilities, assistance will be provided in moving around the crowded festival site.
Audio Description and sign language will be provided at each stage. |
| Folklife means festive life |
Michigan State University Museum showcases the sights, sounds and celebrations of culture and expression.
The Michigan State University Museum puts folklife center stage at this year's National Folk Festival with a lively array of traditional arts, ethnic food, demonstrations and story-telling, games and children's activities.
MSU Museum curators and folklife specialists are coordinating a full weekend line-up of the sights, sounds and celebrations of traditional culture and expression. |
| The Facts of Folklife |
 Folk Arts Marketplace: Traditional Arts
The Folk Arts Marketplace will feature 40 traditional artists and crafters.
People interested in learning some of the unique art forms at the festival can sign up for special Friday afternoon workshops on Ukrainian embroidery, English willow basketry, Chippewa black ash basketry, making canjoes and kalimbas (small musical instruments), drop-spindle spinning, and paper making. The workshops are held in conjunction with East Lansing Recreation and Arts.
Children's Folk Activities:
The Children's Folk Activities Area will feature story-tellers, crafts, games, spontaneous performances and joke-telling sessions.
Great Lakes, Great Quilts:
A special quilt area, Great Lakes, Great Quilts, will feature several exciting areas including:
- Michigan Quilt Project: Register your own family quilt.
- Quilt Roadshow: Have your quilt appraised and hear how other quilts have been pieced together.
- Quilt Care and First Aid Center: Learn how to preserve and restore your quilt
- Meet the Quilt Artists: Meet and ask questions of featured quilt makers.
- Children's Quilt Story Area: Check out books that have inspired quilters and quilts based on children’s literature.
- Quilting Traditions Demonstrations: Try your hand at basic stitches. |
| The National Folk Festival Background and History |
First presented in 1934 in St. Louis, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multi-cultural traditional arts celebration in the nation. Since its inception this traveling festival has been held in 26 communities around the country. Musicians and craftspeople from every state in the union and most U.S. territories have participated in this "moveable feast of deeply traditional folk arts" which is now attracting the largest audience in its history.
The National Folk Festival is presented in its selected host community for three years. It is mounted by the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) in partnership with a coalition of local organizations. The National's recent successes are the result of such partnerships.
On August 10-12, 2001, the National will for its third and final year be hosted in East Lansing, Michigan.The producing partners along with the NCTA are the City of East Lansing and the Michigan State University Museum. In addition, the State of Michigan, Ingham County and the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau's Visitor Center have been actively involved in bringing the Festival to Michigan. |
| The 2001 National Folk Festival |
| The 2001 National Folk Festival will feature five stages with continuous performances by the finest traditional performers from across the country. All Festival activities will take place in and near the city's downtown. A main stage in Valley Court Park can host large audiences while a stage and dance pavilion on Albert Avenue will provide a perfect venue for participatory dancing to the sounds of polka, Tex-Mex, Caribbean and Cajun music. Three other stages will be in adjacent areas in the downtown along with several ethnic food courts, craft displays, traditional games, children's activities, and related displays. Events will include a parade, storytelling, opportunities to meet the artists, and traditional and ethnic cooking demonstrations. The Festival will open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, August 10, 2001 and close at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 12, 2001. Transportation to and from the site will be by shuttle bus from off-site parking. Wheelchairs will be available for loan at the main information booth, and audio description and sign language will be provided at each stage. |
| Service and benefit to the public |
The National Folk Festival celebrates the rich traditional folk, ethnic and tribal cultures of the people of Michigan and the United States. The nation's earliest immigrants and settlers brought the music, arts and customs of their countries of origin with them to America's fertile soil, where they encountered the land's First Nations. Each of these peoples worked to maintain their unique traditions while at the same time adapting to their new home and its rich confluence of cultures. Those musical traditions which we think of as quintessentially "American" -- jazz, blues gospel, bluegrass, old-time, Tex-Mex, Cajun, zydeco and others -- spring from these varied and intertwined ethnic roots. Other arts, crafts and customs reflect similar patterns of cultural preservation and interaction. Today, renewed immigration from an even wider range of nations brings new sounds, dances, foods and customs to our rich American cultural life.
The festival is an enriching experience for visitors of all ages, socioeconomic groups and ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The National Folk Festival offers the chance to savor America's cultural treasures and gain a renewed appreciation for the beauty and excitement of our multicultural and pluralistic society.
The National Folk Festival is currently attracting audiences in excess of 100,000 along with strong regional and national media exposure. Close work with the State of Michigan Travel Michigan program and the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau has helped draw large numbers of out-of-town visitors from across the state, the Chicago area and beyond. The Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Lansing estimated that the festival brought an economic benefit of over $4.8 million in 1999.
For additional information call:
National Folk Festival
24 hour number (517) 351-2735
Business phone (517) 319-6927
Visitor information 1-888-2-LANSING
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