Welcome to the 64th National Folk Festival! Whether you’re from the Bangor area, from other parts of Maine, or from “away,” you’ve picked a great time to discover what Bangor has to offer. I know it will turn out to be more than you ever expected. Read More
First presented in 1934, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multicultural arts celebration in the nation. This “movable feast” of American heritage has traveled to 27 communities around the country to celebrate traditional music, dance, storytelling, crafts and food. Now entering its 64th year, the festival is… Read More
When Cherish the Ladies performed this winter at Norumbega Hall in Bangor, the members of the group delivered more than the traditional Irish jigs and contemporary folk tunes that have made them award-winning recording artists over the last 15 years. The Irish-American musicians also had something to say… Read More
Out of consideration for the numbers of attendees and the comfort of pets, the National Folk Festival requests that all pets other than service animals be left at home. Read More
After three days at last year’s National Folk Festival in East Lansing, Mich., my feet hurt from walking back and forth between performance stages, food booths, demonstrations, lemonade stands. It was a good hurt, a happy hurt inspired by the toe-tapping riffs of legendary flat-picking guitarist Doc Watson,… Read More
August . Aug 23-25 googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
The 64th National Folk Festival celebrates the rich traditional folk, ethnic and tribal cultures of the people of Maine 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 their new homeland, where they… Read More
Faith can be everything when it comes to the National Folk Festival, and Joe Wilson, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, is a man of faith. When he visited Bangor more than a year ago, he saw a city he could believe in. Read More
Activities in the children’s area include outdoor games, such as hopscotch, hoop rolling, graces, and “stilt” walking. Quiet Games, including cribbage, jackstraws (pick-up sticks), clapping games, and string games. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner… Read More
A number of Maine’s cultural and historical organizations are taking part in this year’s National Folk Festival in Bangor, Maine. At one end of the site, next to Pickering Square where the children’s activities are located, the following organizations offer children’s activities and educational materials. The… Read More
While at the festival, you can assist Rollin Thurlow and his team in building the National Folk Festival Canoe, appropriately named the American Beauty. The American Beauty is a smaller version of the popular 171/2-foot Atkinson Traveler. In keeping with its Maine Guide canoe lineage,… Read More
Designed by Cindy Taylor, this quilt is a full-size Maine Sampler Quilt in shades of blue. Raffle tickets to win this quilt are available in advance at the Bangor Visitor & Conventions Bureau on Main Street in Bangor and they will be sold at the festival Aug. 23,… Read More
The eyes of Clara Neptune Keezer, a Passamaquoddy elder, brighten when she recalls the moment a voice on the other end of the phone announced that the basket maker from Pleasant Point near Perry had been awarded a 2002 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the… Read More
The National Folk Festival is looking for artists interested in creating art work to be used for promotional material for next year’s event, including – but not limited to – poster, brochure and T-shirt designs. If you would like more information on how you can submit your art… Read More
Festival sponsors Bangor Daily News googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
Here’s a test. What kind of music do you expect to see at a folk festival? Chances are you come up with images of Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Seems reasonable enough. Leftist leanings. Acoustic guitars. Poetic lyrics about idealism, politics… Read More
Vendors in the National Folk Festival’s Folk Arts Marketplace sell traditional arts. These arts are learned as part of the cultural life of a group of people whose members share a common ethnic heritage, language, religion, occupation or culturally united geographic region. Folk and traditional arts are shaped… Read More
French Acadian Buckwheat Pancakes Bouchard Family Farm googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
? Chili, corn bread, chili dogs, lemonade Manna Ministries, Bill Rae googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function… Read More
Penobscot Root Club Carving Joe Dana/Stan Neptune googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length; i++) { if (isMobileDevice()) { if (slot_sizes[i][0] googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Artist workshops at the festival bring together performers from diverse cultural traditions for informal public discussions about and demonstrations of their music. The organizing principle might be an instrument, a musical idea or specific cultural activity. Typically guided by a moderator, the workshops offer festival-goers the opportunity for… Read More