83rd National Folk Festival Opens November 13 in Jackson: Three Free Days, More Than 300 Artists
The 83rd National Folk Festival takes place November 13-15 in downtown Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, and admission is free. The producer, the National Council for the Traditional Arts, describes it as the nation's longest-running folk and traditional arts event, founded in 1934. Jackson hosts the traveling festival from 2025 to 2027, and this is its second year in the city.
More than 300 artists perform on six outdoor stages downtown. The festival begins Friday, November 13, at 6 p.m., when Cedric Burnside and the Rising Stars Fife & Drum Band open on the Visit Mississippi Stage with Hill Country blues and African American fife and drum music. At 6:45 p.m. the Mississippi Alumni All-Star Band leads the opening parade, the festival officially opens at 7:15 p.m., and three stages run until 9:30 p.m. On Saturday all six stages run from noon to 9:30 p.m., and Sunday hours are noon to 6 p.m.
This year's festival is part of Of the People, the Smithsonian's nationwide Festival of Festivals marking America's 250th anniversary, and features a special program of National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows, recipients of the nation's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. A juried marketplace brings 23 Southern craftspeople selling paintings, linocuts, textiles and ceramics, and food and marketplace vendors open at 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. on the weekend.
The footprint covers downtown Jackson around Capitol Street, from State Street to Lamar Street and Pascagoula Street to Yazoo Street. The Two Mississippi Museums offer free admission on November 14 and 15 during the festival.
Source: National Council for the Traditional Arts
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：密西西比州Jackson市中心州议会大厦一带（Wikimedia Commons）
