73rd National Folk Festival

Is everyone getting excited? We hope so!



Don’t forget – Friday at 6:40pm is kickoff of the 73rd National Folk Festival with a stellar lineup featuring Irish, bluegrass, salsa, blues, mariachi and Cajun traditions.



Be sure and pick up a copy of today's Nashville Scene with a great cover story on the festival by Jewly Hight. She really brings to light the 73 year tradition of the National, going all the way back to inception under the guidance of Eleanor Roosevelt.



Today let's look at the Jackson Stage (6th Ave N and Jefferson Street):



One of 4 fully covered audience areas at the festival (not that we're expecting rain), the Jackson Stage kicks off Friday night at 7:30pm with "Travis-style" thumb picker/guitarist Eddie Pennington, followed by Mariachi Los Camperos de Nat Cano at 8:30pm. Two demonstrations, Blues and Gospel Traditions and World Percussion Traditions, lead off Saturday at 12:15pm, and music performances begin at 2:45pm with 3x International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year Dale Ann Bradley. Right after Dale Ann will be Ozden Oztoprak (Kurdish) and then the night caps off with Hawaiian kahiko hula from Hula Halau ‘l Keikiali’i at 8:15pm and a no-doubt-about-it unforgettable breakdance performance from Massive Monkees at 9:15pm.



Tennessee Crossroads will be on-site filming so be sure to wave at the cameras.



We're not just here, we're out 'there' too:



If you’re a lucky parent of a student at Isiah T. Creswell Arts Magnet Middle School, Pearl Cohn Magnet High School, Dan Mills Elementary or Buena Vista Elementary School, then you might hear about our folk festival artists visiting these Nashville schools tomorrow: Ozden Oztoprak will be performing at Creswell Arts Magnet Middle, Oyama X Nitta (Japanese shamisen) will be at Cohn Magnet High, Dale Ann Bradley at Mills Elementary, and Eddie Pennington (thumbpick guitar) will be at Buena Vista Elementary.



What to bring?



- Blanket/ camping chairs

- Sunscreen

- Bug spray

- Hat

- Camera

- Backpack/bag (for all your crafts/takeaways)

- Comfortable footwear (and your dancing shoes!)



We will have water, hats and t-shirts at our three merch tents located next to the Capitol Hill Stage, Jackson Stage and Jefferson Street Dance Pavilion. When you get hungry you can visit any of our AMAZING food vendors ( here’s a complete list of what you can eat.) Toilets are located throughout the park and free parking is located in state parking lots surrounding the site.



Tweet us, 'Like' us, and keep spreading the word.



See you tomorrow,



The National Folk Festival team