The Takoma Park Folk Festival Brings Various Cultures Together

Added: 12/21/2005

The Takoma Park Folk Festival is one of the leading music festivals. It was established in 1978 by Sam Abbott, and is held annually in Takoma Park, Maryland, the United States. Eight stages of the festival are home to a large number of musicians from all over the world. The 28th Takoma Park Folk Festival was held on September 11, 2005 from 11 a. m. to 6 p. m.

The Takoma Park Folk Festival is held annually at the Takoma Park Middle School. The music and dance program of the festival includes numerous performances that are designed for the visitors' participation, such as the Seventh Heaven stage, dance workshops, and a wide variety of activities for children. The festival also strives to adjust its activities to physically handicapped people, who are now provided with the opportunity to participate in all indoor, and most outdoor, activities.

A large number of performances are designed for the hearing impaired. Cub Scout Pack 33 provides children with homemade games, while the Grassy Nook Stage is designed for dancing, interactive musical games, folksingers, storytelling, and music making.

In 2005, the Earth Center for the Arts was equipped with a table for children's participatory crafts. The juried craft exposition of the festival brings together many artists and craftspeople from the Takoma region. Various innovative creations are displayed for sale.

Annually, the Takoma Park Folk Festival is arranged by a number of community groups who distribute literature and encourage new donations. Food served during the festival represents various national cuisines and provides cheap options for the whole family. Students of Takoma Park Middle School sell soft drinks and water not far from the Grassy Nook area.

The Takoma Park Folk Festival benefits greatly from local organizations, which support youth activities. The organization's supervisors serve as volunteers during the festival to help earn funds for the support of specific projects.

One of the most important players is the Takoma Park Folk Festival organizing committee. Over the years, the community of the festival has demonstrated talent, energy, and creativity to ensure the prosperity of the festival.

Due to the efforts of the Takoma Orchestra, the House of Musical Traditions, the Takoma Singers, the Street Festival, the Fourth of July Parade Music, and the Jazz Festival, music is kept alive on eight stages of the festival. One of the members of the Program Committee is the owner of House of Musical Traditions, Dave Eisner, who contributed to the establishment of the music scene.

The first Takoma Park Folk Festival, held on September 10, 1978, had eleven acts performed on one stage. The Takoma Park Folk Festival 2005 has shown significant signs of growth, featuring about 50 acts and nearly 200 participants, who performed on seven stages.

Today the program of the festival can compete with the programs of the most prestigious world festivals. However the festival is a nonprofit event, offering free admission. The performers have the possibility to sell recordings on the day of the festival.

Each year the attendees can observe unique moments of joint performances, which bring various artists together. The rich traditions of Hispanic, Irish, American, Eastern European, and other cultures are presented at the festival. Performers depict African storytelling and drumming, American folk, and religious music, as well as several cultures of Latin America.

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