Jackson is slated to make history this week as the first city in Mississippi to host the National Folk Festival, the longest-running traditional arts event in America.
The National Folk Festival will make home of the capital for the next three years with its 2025 edition beginning this weekend. Here’s what to know about the free event.
What is the National Folk Festival?
Serving as the country’s longest-running traditional arts event after being founded in 1934 and championed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in its early years, the National Folk Festival travels around the U.S. and highlights the roots, richness, and variety of American culture.
Recent stops have included Nashville, St. Louis, Greensboro, N.C., and Salisbury, Md. In May 2024, it was announced that Jackson would be the first Mississippi city to host the event. Former Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba’s administration applied and secured the event, while new Mayor John Horhn said during his first State of the City address on Oct. 21 that the city had raised $1.4 million of a $1.5 million goal for the festival.
When is the National Folk Festival?
The 2025 National Folk Festival will take place Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 9.
It will kick off on Friday at 6 p.m. with the weekend’s first concert before Jackson State University’s Sonic Boom of the South marching band helps ring in the official start to the festival via a parade that begins at 6:45 p.m. Saturday’s schedule goes from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Sunday’s schedule goes from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
No tickets are needed as the event is free to the public through a combination of private and public funding.
Where is the National Folk Festival?
Specifically, the festival is taking place in downtown Jackson. Six stages and other venues for arts will be set up, including:
- Ergon/Alliant Stage: intersection of Capitol and State Streets, in front of the Old Capitol Museum
- Visit Mississippi Stage: on Capitol Street between Lamar and Farish Streets
- State Street Group Stage: intersection of Yazoo and President Streets
- Welcome to Jackson Dance Pavilion: in front of the “Gateway to Downtown” at Pearl and State Streets
- Community Foundation for Mississippi/W.K. Kellogg Foundation Family Stage: in Smith Park at Amite and Congress Streets
- C Spire Foundation/Regions Bank Family Activities Area: in Smith Park at Amite and Congress Streets
- Mississippi Folklife Stage: on the Old Capitol Museum Green at Amite and State Streets
- City with Soul Mississippi Folklife Demonstration Area: on the Old Capitol Museum Green at Amite and State Streets
- LocaliQ/Clarion Ledger Festival Marketplace: in front of the Governor’s Mansion on Capitol Street
- Street performance areas: at Capitol and Congress Streets and near the family area at Amite and West Streets
Who will be at the National Folk Festival?
The National Folk Festival will feature more than 300 performers, demonstrators, and artisans. Headlining the event is legendary bluesman Bobby Rush, Balla Kouyaté & Famoro Dioubaté, and The Campbell Brothers. Other announced performers include Dale Ann Bradley, E.U. featuring Sugar Bear, and John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band.
Artists represent places such as Mississippi, Massachusetts, New York, Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas, and Montana, among other states and territories.
A full schedule can be found here.
How long is the National Folk Festival in Jackson?
The National Folk Festival will be in Jackson for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 editions.
Throughout the three-year residency, the National Folk Festival is anticipated to see over 330,000 visitors while generating $60 million in economic impact. Year one is estimated to draw up to 80,000 visitors as attendance grows to the 150,000-person mark in year three.
Horhn called the festival coming to Jackson a “special opportunity” to showcase not only different cultures but also the potential the city has to become a regional hub for future events.
“The National Folk Festival is a special opportunity for Jackson and the state of Mississippi to demonstrate that we’re ready to host a world-class festival in our capital city’s historic downtown,” Horhn said. “Hundreds of excellent artists are coming to our city from across the country. … Such a crowd-pleasing lineup is sure to resonate with our community and bring enormous energy to the event.”
What else is going on?
The 2025 edition of the National Folk Festival pairs with what will already be a busy weekend in the city of Jackson.
Opening night of the festival coincides with the Mississippi NAACP’s 80th annual convention, and thanks to a partnership between officials from both, Rush was able to be secured to perform.
“Music is the art form that gives one the fortitude to continue to fight in the struggle towards justice,” Mississippi NAACP state conference executive director Charles Taylor said. “Music unites us all. I am excited that [we] will be partnering with the National Folk Festival, which will bring hundreds of artists to stages in the heart of the city.
“This year, we celebrate the 80th year of our state conference, and to do so, we will do it the Mississippi way, with catfish and blues.”
Another major event will be taking place during the festival’s first two days. The Junior League of Jackson’s annual “Mistletoe Marketplace” is set to be hosted at the Mississippi Trade Mart from Wednesday, Nov. 5, through Saturday, Nov. 8.
No home college football games will be taking place in Jackson this weekend, allowing fans to enjoy all else that’s happening across the city.
