NATCHITOCHES – The 34th Annual Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival will be held Friday and Saturday in Prather Coliseum on the Northwestern State University campus. The Festival will be Friday from 4:30 p.m. until 11:15 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m.
Tickets are $11 for a two-day pass, available in advance only, $8 for all events on Saturday or $5 for a one-time evening pass to all events after 5 p.m.
The Festival Theme is ‘Celebrating Louisiana's Horse and Cattle Culture.’ Along with music, food, crafts, narrative sessions and demonstrations will be featured.
The Annual Louisiana State Fiddle Championship will also be part of the Festival. The Fiddle Championship will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. There will be a non-championship class for those 12 and under, 13-18 and 60 above and a championship class for those 21 and under, 22-59 and age 60 and above. Registration is at noon in the second floor foyer outside Magale Recital Hall.
Among the featured musical groups on Friday will be Hezekiah Early and the Houserockers, Jesus Rhythm, Hardrick Rivers and the Rivers Revue Band, Gal Holiday, Hugh Harris and His Drifting Cowboys, the Jambalaya Cajun Band with D.L. Menard, Kerry Grombacher and Max and Marcy.
Musical groups performing on Saturday will include Grombacher, Brandon Moreau and Friends, the Blake Brothers Bluegrass Band, Sarah Jayde Williams and the Sharecroppers Band, the Caddo Creek Band, Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie, Trini Triggs, Knight Train, Menard, Maggie Warwick and the Louisiana Hayride, Hugh Harris and His Drafting Cowboys with Gina Forsyth, the Louisiana State Fiddle Champion, Reasonable Facsimile, the Back Porch Band, Holiday and Rivers.
Narrative sessions will discuss the Cowboy Church, cowboy poetry, Courir de Mardi Gras crafts, Louisiana cowboys, horse racing in Louisiana, misconceptions about the cattle industry, leather working, blacksmithing, Cane River stories. informances by Grombacher, Triggs and Williams, a tribute to Hank Williams Sr. and working cattle dogs.
Craftspeople have been invited to display their traditional work on Saturday and discuss their work with those attending the Festival. Craftspeople are expected to display photography, beadwork, baskets, instruments, Psanky eggs, whips, quilts and bonnets, whittling, toys, dolls, walking sticks, Mardi Gras screen masks, paillasse, cowhide chairs, blowhorns, silver, woodcarving, file' making, scrollsaw crafts, bullet jewelry and more.
Support for the Festival is provided by grants from the Department of Culture, Recreation, & Tourism: Louisiana Division of the Arts –Shreveport Regional Arts Council, the Natchitoches Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Natchitoches Historic District Development Commission, the Cane River National Heritage Area, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Inc., Paragon Casino Resort, the Louisiana Cattlemen's Association and the Louisiana Beef Industry Council.
For advance tickets or more information, call (318) 357-4332 or go to louisianafolklife.nsula.edu<http://www.louisianafolklife.nsula.edu>.
By: David West, NSU