Information: History of the Festival
In the early 1980s, the Michigan State University Museum began to produce
festivals as part of its strategy to document, interpret, and present
aspects of contemporary traditional culture; to teach others about the
tools and methodologies used to engage in cultural studies; and to engage
visitors in learning about cultural heritage, especially that of Michigan
and the Great Lakes region.
Learn about some of the traditions and artists that were showcased at
the festivals that preceded the Great Lakes Folk Festival.
Festival of Michigan Folklife
As part of Michigan's 1987 sesquicentennial celebration of statehood,
the MSU Museum staff worked closely with the Smithsonian Institution in
the presentation of Michigan's cultural traditions at the Festival of
American Folklife. The MSU Museum then brought the festival program to
East Lansing as the centerpiece of the first Michigan Festival - a showcase
of the state's performing and creative arts. Renamed the Festival of Michigan
Folklife (FMF), the event became the largest annual museum exhibition
of the state's traditional cultural contributions. Over its twelve-year
history, the Festival of Michigan Folklife provided a platform for presentation
of over 1,400 artists--the vast majority had never been presented by any
other arts organization in the state.
Each year, the festival featured one or more themes as follows:
1987 - Migration to Michigan
1988 - Ethnic Detroit
1989 - Family Traditions
1990 - Maritime Traditions (including building the Mackinaw Bridge)
1991 - Lumbering Traditions
1992 - Quincentenary: Other Voices, Other Visions
1993 - Migration to Michigan
1994 - Family Farming Traditions
1995 - Creativity at Work
1996 - Michigan Celebrates!
1997 - Car Culture/ Worker's Culture
(in conjunction with Oldsmobile's 100th Anniversary)
1998 - Firefighting Traditions and Traditions of the Thumb of Michigan
Annual program books from the Festivals of Michigan Folklife as well as the 1999 National Folk Festival are available through the Michigan Traditional Arts Program on line store. Each program book contains articles related to the artists and traditions featured in that year.
