As Jackson prepares to make history as the first Mississippi city to land the National Folk Festival, details are being rolled out for the first of three years the fest will call the capital home.
From Nov. 7-9, the 82nd National Folk Festival will be held in downtown Jackson and be free to the public. Serving as the 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.
Its first year in Jackson will bring approximately 300 artists – musicians, storytellers, and craftspeople – with more than 30 different musical groups performing on as many as six outdoor performance venues.
Musical acts announced so far include The Campbell Brothers, Dale Ann Bradley, E.U. featuring Sugar Bear, Eileen Ivers, John Primer & the Real Deal Blues Band, LOS RICOS featuring Sonia & Ismael, Plena Libre, Riyaaz Qawwali, Balla Kouyaté & Famoro Dioubaté, Frank London’s Klezmer Brass Allstars, Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys, Korean Performing Arts Institute of Chicago, Lutchinha, and Wylie & the Wild West.
Additional performers will be announced as they are confirmed. Descriptions of the acts already booked, the kind of music they play, and their stories can be found here.
During its stint in Jackson, the National Folk Festival is expected to draw over 330,000 visitors while generating $60 million in economic impact. Year one is estimated to see up to 80,000 visitors as attendance grows to around the 150,000-person mark in year three.
“On behalf of the city of Jackson, I want to express how excited and honored we are to host the National Folk Festival,” Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said when Jackson was selected last May. “We like to say that Mississippi is the birthplace of America’s music, and we’re bringing the festival home.”
The National Folk Festival is a partnership of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the City of Jackson, Visit Jackson, Downtown Jackson Partners, the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, the Community Foundation for Mississippi, the Mississippi Arts Commission, the Mississippi Humanities Council, Visit Mississippi, and the National Park Service.
