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.
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First held in 1934, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multicultural festival of traditional arts in the nation, and has been produced from its inception by the NCTA. It is a traveling festival produced in partnership with communities around the country. The National Folk Festival’s residency in each host city is intended to lay the groundwork for sustainable, locally-produced festivals and events that continue after the National moves on. To date, the National has been presented in nearly 30 cities. Musicians and craftspeople from every U.S. state and most U.S. territories have participated in this “moveable feast of deeply traditional folk arts.” Presented to audiences free of charge over a three-day period, National Folk Festivals since 1987 have had audiences upwards of 175,000.
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- The National Folk Festival Home
- Next: A Brief History of the National Folk Festival
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