• Founded in 1933, the NCTA is the oldest folk arts organization in the nation.

  • The NCTA is dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the United States.

  • NCTA’s dynamic programs celebrate the richness of America’s diverse, living heritage.

  • NCTA partners with communities to build sustainable cultural events that deliver lasting social, cultural and economic benefits.

  • The acclaimed National Folk Festival is the nation’s longest-running multicultural celebration of traditional arts.

  • NCTA presents grassroots artists of the highest caliber in festivals, tours, exhibitions, media productions, and other activities.

  • NCTA is committed to presenting those arts that collectively define us as a people, that represent continuity from the past to the present and into the future.

  • The NCTA Collection has been called “one of the major cornerstones of 20th century American folk music 
documentation.”

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Features

Features

  • 2018 National Heritage Fellowships

    2018 National Heritage Fellowships

    Taking place in our nation’s capital, the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship awards ceremony and concert honors extraordinary practitioners of the folk and traditional arts in the United States. The NCTA has had ... Read More »

Sights & Sounds

Sights & Sounds

  • NCTA Radio: “Gospel Ship”

    NCTA Radio: “Gospel Ship”

    Over the coming months, NCTA Radio will be streaming a series of thematic programs that feature music from the NCTA Collection.  “Gospel Ship” is the first of these programs, which were produced over a 10-year period ... Read More »