National Folk Festival

An LESMD Regional Event

Beginning in 1934, The National Folk Festival is one of America’s largest, most prestigious and longest-running celebrations of arts, culture, and heritage. The National Council for the Arts (NCTA) selects one city from among applicants around the country to co-host the officially sanctioned event for three consecutive years. Consistent with the NCTA mission of laying the groundwork for sustainable, locally produced festivals, a number of cities have gone on to leverage the infrastructure and experience gained from hosting the festival to produce an annual spin-off, or “legacy festival”, of their own.

Salisbury was selected by the NCTA to host the event in 2018-2020, with the 2020 event being postponed until 2021. According to the National Folk Festival BEACON report (Salisbury University) 2019 annual attendance exceeded 150,000 with the overall economic impact reaching $13M (source: National Folk Festival BEACON Report). The average travel distance for attendees of the event was 200-300 miles, with some visitors traveling from as far as the west coast. This success has led the City of Salisbury to make plans for its own legacy festival in 2022 – the Maryland Folk Festival.