69th National Folk Festival's Final List of Performing Artists

Press release
Source: The Hodges Partnership

The 69th National Folk Festival has announced the final list of performing groups for the large, free, three-day event, Oct 12-14, 2007, on the downtown riverfront of Richmond, Virginia. These artists include: Junk Yard Band – Go-go, Big Country Bluegrass – bluegrass, Cindy Cashdollar, Elana James, and the Hot Club of Cowtown – Western Swing, Bryan Bowers – Autoharp player and singer, Karan Casey – Irish Song and Music, Dovie Thomason Sickles – Native American Story Teller, Moges Seyoum & The Yared Choir – Ethiopian Christian Liturgical Music, Manoocheher Sadeghi – Persian Santur, Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble – Philipino Gong Orchestra, Wild Style 25th Anniversary – Hip-hop Innovator, Marimba Linda Xelajú – Guatemalan Marimba, The Jerry Grcevich Tamburitza Orchestra – Tamburitza Musician and Composer, Melody of China – Chinese Music, and Ubaldo Sanchez – Guatemalan Alfrombra Maker.

“The festival features the very finest traditional artists from cultural communities all over the nation,” said Lisa Sims, festival director. “This incredible gathering of musicians really offers something for everyone and I’m sure all who attend will be delighted – and those who don’t attend will wish they had.”

These artists join Grupo Fantasma - Latin dance music, Professor John Styles - Punch and Judy puppetry, Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - Bluegrass and bluegrass gospel, Vishten - Acadian music and dance, The Holmes Brothers -Blues, gospel and R&B, D.L. Menard and the Louisiana Aces - Honky-tonk Cajun, Jason Samuels Smith and Pandit Chitresh Das - Masters of percussive dance, Maggie Ingram and The Ingramettes – Gospel, Blue Ridge Masters Wayne Henderson and Jeff Little, Blue Ridge guitar and piano, Henry Butler – New Orleans piano professor, Kotchegna Dance Company – Ivorian dance and percussion ensemble, and Rosie Ledet and The Zydeco Playboys – zydeco, completing the performer lineup for the 69th National Folk Festival.

Four additional artists have been added to the list of those who will perform on the Traditional Craft Area stage. These artists are Mike Seeger – Old-time banjo, Cephas & Wiggins – Piedmont blues, Linda Lay - bluegrass, and The Madison Hummingbirds – gospel shout band.

To find out more about the performing groups scheduled for the 69th National Folk Festival or to volunteer at the festival, please visit www.venturerichmond.com or call (804) 788-6466.

About The National Folk Festival

Since 1934, the National Folk Festival has celebrated the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional craft, storytelling and food. It is the oldest celebration of traditional arts in the country and regularly attracts more than 100,000 people each year. This “moveable feast of deeply traditional folk arts” has been held in 27 communities around the country and in 2005 it began the first of its three-year tenure on historic Richmond’s downtown riverfront. The 69th National Folk Festival will take place October 12-14, 2007.

Presented by Richmond Region 2007, the National Folk Festival features more than 30 artists/groups on seven stages with continuous music and dance performances, along with a Virginia Folklife demonstration area, children's activities, a folk arts marketplace, regional and ethnic foods and more. The FREE three-day festival is one of the largest in Virginia and draws visitors from across the country.

The festival is produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) and Venture Richmond, in partnership with Richmond Region 2007, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Richmond Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Children’s Museum of Richmond. Working in close cooperation with the producing partners are The City of Richmond, The American Civil War Center at historic Tredegar, and the National Park Service’s Richmond National Battlefield Park.

In 2008, “The National” will travel to a new city, but Richmond will continue the cultural celebration by presenting its own festival –with the same commitment to quality and authenticity established by the National. For more information, please visit www.venturerichmond.com or call (804) 788-6466.

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