A Great American Festival Comes to North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad
The 77th National Folk Festival will take place September 8-10, 2017
Make your plans now to join us in the heartland of North Carolina for The National Folk Festival—one of America’s largest, most prestigious, and longest-running celebrations of arts, culture, and heritage. Best of all, this three-day celebration is FREE! No tickets needed!
In choosing Greensboro as the National Folk Festival Host City for 2015, 2016, and 2017, the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA)—the organization that created and has produced the National Folk Festival since its founding in 1934—recognized Greensboro’s and North Carolina’s unique cultural assets and strong community spirit.
A large-scale, three-day outdoor event presented FREE to the public, the National Folk Festival celebrates the roots, richness, and variety of American culture. It features over 300 of the nation’s finest traditional musicians, dancers, and craftspeople in performances, workshops, and demonstrations, plus children’s activities, savory Southern and ethnic cuisines and craft brews, non-stop participatory dancing, storytelling, parades, and more.
With 30+ groups performing on seven stages, the North Carolina Folklife Area, the Family Activities Area, the North Carolina Arts Marketplace, and the Festival Food Courts, the National Folk Festival offers a jubilant array of experiences for all ages.
The Festival embraces the heritage and traditions of all Americans—from those whose families have been here for centuries or millennia to those who have more recently arrived on our shores. Prepare to be wowed as both legendary masters and the next generation of dynamic, young artists celebrate America’s musical soul and cultural roots.
Greensboro’s own unique story and rich, multicultural heritage—from the pacifist traditions of its 17th-century Quaker founders to the brave college students who initiated the country’s Civil Rights’ Sit-In Movement at a downtown Woolworth’s lunch counter in 1960—was celebrated throughout the 75th National Folk Festival in special Fabric of Freedom activities.