FOLK FESTIVAL BRINGS MUSIC, ART, CULTURE TO TOWN
AUG. 10-12
By Petra Pankow

MSU MUSEUM -- For the third summer, East Lansing will host the National Folk Festival from Aug. 10-12, the oldest multi-cultural traditional arts celebration in the United States.

Organized by the National Council for Traditional Arts in Washington, D.C., the Michigan State

University Museum, and the City of East Lansing, the National Folk Festival has been an overwhelming success during the past two years. As it enters into its third season in Michigan, festival followers and newcomers alike can look forward to a large range of performances and activities.

Audiences of all ages are invited to join in celebrating the richness and variety of American culture through traditional music, dance, storytelling, food, and crafts. Featured musicians and dancers rank amongst the finest artists of their respective genres, which include blues, polka, western swing, and zydeco as well as traditional Domincan merengue, Irish, Caribbean, and Acadian French music and dance. The Michigan State University Museum has also organized a folk arts marketplace and a food court featuring regional and ethnic specialties.

All Festival events will take place in and near downtown East Lansing. There will be a number of music stages and a dance pavilion. Other attractions include children’s folk activities, storytelling, a quilting demonstration, and traditional games, conducted by the MSU Museum. Admission to all Festival events is free.

Since its 1934 debut in St. Louis, this family-friendly outdoor event has traveled to 26 communities in celebration of our rich and diverse heritage, featuring performers from every part of the country. The event will move on to Maine in 2002. The good news for local festival followers: a new Great Lakes Folk Festival will begin in East Lansing in 2002, produced by the MSU Museum.

For additional information call the National Folk Festival at (517) 351-2735 or visit www.nff.net