The Michigan State University Museum has a long history
of producing outdoor festivals of traditional culture. In 1983, the MSU Museum
produced its first series of outdoor showcases of Michigan's folk traditions
at the annual 4-H Exploration Days in East Lansing. The “Michigan Whosestory?”
Festival was presented over a weekend in 1987 and brought together over 75
musicians, storytellers, and crafts demonstrators.
As part of Michigan's 1987 sesquicentennial celebration of statehood, the
MSU Museum staff worked closely with The
Smithsonian Institution for the presentation of Michigan's cultural traditions
in the national Festival of American Folklife. Through presentations by cooks,
storytellers, musicians, craftspeople and others who represented the state's
diverse regional, ethnic, and occupational heritage, over 1,000,000 visitors
in Washington, D.C. were introduced to Michigan's 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.
In 1999, the MSU Museum began a new three-year partnership - this time with
the City of East Lansing and the National
Council for Traditional Arts (NCTA) to produce the National Folk Festival.
NCTA took primary responsibility for coordinating music programming and the
MSU Museum was responsible for all other programming, including foodways,
children, crafts, games, storytelling, and occupational arts.
In 2001, the
National Folk Festival
wrapped up its stay in East Lansing and moved on to Bangor, Maine, where it
was presented through 2004. The National left another new folk Festival in it's wake. Bangor now hosts the American Folk Festival the 4th weekend in August. In 2005 the National moved to Richmond,
Virginia. After Richmond was home to the National for 3 years, they introduced the Richmond Folk Festival in 2008. In 2009, the National was staged, for the second year, in Butte, Montana- dates
for '09 were July 10-12. Butte's National Folk Festival website
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July 10-12 |
Oct 9-11 |
Aug 28-30 |
Link to Introduction to Festival of Michigan Folklife 1987-1998
Link to 2000 National Folk Festival Performer information
Link
to 2001 National Folk Festival Performer information
In 2002, the MSU Museum's Michigan
Traditional Arts Program launched the Great Lakes Folk Festival, a continuation
of its festival tradition.
Link
to reconstructed 2002 Great Lakes Folk Festival Information Link
to 2003 Great Lakes Folk Festival Performer information Link
to 2007 Great Lakes Folk Festival - entire site
Link
to 2008 Great Lakes Folk Festival - entire site
Link
to 2004 Great Lakes Folk Festival Performer information
Link
to 2005 Great Lakes Folk Festival Performer Information
Link to
2006 Great Lakes Folk Festival - entire site
