Features

The NCTA and our various partners are thrilled to share a first glimpse of our 2023 season with you—a look ahead at the year in traditional arts! We are excited to return once again this summer and fall to our thriving legacy festival communities in Montana, Massachusetts, and Virginia. In September, National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) National Heritage Fellows ... Read More »

2022 was a time of celebration and success as the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) marked a return to a full programming schedule since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for another year of supporting the oldest folk arts organization in the nation. This year marks the 90th birthday of NCTA! Our founder Sarah Gertrude Knott ... Read More »

Curtains Close on Final National Folk Festival in Salisbury, MD Salisbury, MD–The City of Salisbury and the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) are proud to announce the final attendance estimates for the multi-year residency of the National Folk Festival in Salisbury, MD. Through five years of partnership from 2018 to 2022, including four in-person presentations of the festival, ... Read More »

MEDIA RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2022 CONTACT: nationaltreasures@ncta-usa.org SILVER SPRING, MD – The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is proud to announce the launch of National Treasures: A Tour of Culture Bearers in National Parks. A pilot program of the 2026 United States Semiquincentennial in collaboration with the National Park Service (NPS), National Treasures showcases the nation’s most distinguished ... Read More »

The NCTA and our many various partners are thrilled to welcome you to our 2022 season with a first glimpse at the year ahead in traditional arts! With excitement, as well as an abundance of care, we’re continuing to take precautions to ensure everyone can safely enjoy everything our in-person festival experiences have to offer this year. Please take a ... Read More »

DATE: Thursday, January 27, 2022 CONTACT: Lora Bottinelli, Executive Director, media@ncta-usa.org Silver Spring, MD — National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is pleased to announce they have been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. NCTA is recommended ... Read More »

San Juan, PR – Today the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the National Park Service, and La Casa de la Plena, announce a historic new collaborative and free public performance project, Pleneando en el Castillo San Cristóbal. This new series of interactive and family friendly workshops and performances feature Plena, a Puerto Rican heritage expression, rooted in oral ... Read More »

  Imagine transforming your city into a vibrant celebration of music, dance and art from across America that can bring 100,000 event goers and generate tens of millions in economic impact.   For three years beginning in 2023, the nation’s longest running traditional arts event—the National Folk Festival—can take root in the heart of your community. See your city streets flourish ... Read More »

Did you hear the news? 81st National Folk Festival in Salisbury for 2022! In a surprise announcement during the kickoff of the 80th National Folk Festival, the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) and the City of Salisbury announced plans for the National Folk Festival to continue its tenure in Salisbury, Maryland, for another year. The nationally celebrated event, ... Read More »

80th National Folk Festival Commemorative Acadian Accordion Auction This Acadian accordion was custom built by Marc Savoy and his son Joel in support of the 80th National Folk Festival. Sixty-five years of playing the Cajun accordion, together with fifty-eight years of building these instruments, is the reason for the special sound and feel of this beautiful Acadian accordion. Built in ... Read More »