The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) The NCTA is the nation’s oldest multicultural arts presenting organization. For over eight decades, through festivals, tours, symposia, exhibits, and media productions, the NCTA has showcased the very best of the myriad grassroots folk, tribal and ethnic cultures that comprise our diverse nation.
Dear friends,
Like many of our colleagues working in the arts, last Friday the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) received notification from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that a grant offer we accepted in December was being withdrawn. We were informed that our project did not align with the NEA’s new grantmaking policy priorities.
This grant would have supported the NCTA’s work on the 83rd National Folk Festival, scheduled for November 13-15, 2026, the second year of the festival’s three-year residency in Jackson, MS. We remain confused by this decision; America250 Mississippi has named the 83rd National Folk Festival as one of the state’s official events for its celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, a priority highlighted in the NEA’s new grantmaking policy.
While we appeal this decision, we want you—our colleagues, our supporters, our festival partners, our host communities, and the artists we honor in our programs—to know that we remain committed to our mission to celebrate the artistic traditions of all Americans through dynamic programs that build bridges between artists and the public. As we have since the first National Folk Festival in 1934, we will continue to work in partnership with communities across the country to establish joyous, affirming, and unifying sustainable traditional arts events that deliver lasting social, cultural, and economic benefits, and inspire people for the greater good.
Despite this loss of funding, the NCTA is on the precipice of another successful year, culminating with the launch of the National Folk Festival’s residency in Jackson, MS, from November 7-9, 2025.
Yet, in these uncertain times, your support is critical.
Please consider making a donation to invest in the NCTA’s continued work building community through artistic excellence and cultural understanding.
Respectfully yours,
Blaine Waide
Executive Director
