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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mia Hansen
520-370-0588
Mia@CulturalExchangeCouncil.org
TUCSON IN THE RUNNING FOR NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL 2011-13
Tucson is one of three cities under consideration to host the National Folk Festival 2011-12-13.
First held in 1934, the National Folk Festival is the oldest multi-cultural festival of traditional arts in the nation, and has been produced from its inception by the NCTA. http://www.ncta.net/
Now entering its 72nd year, it is a traveling festival produced in partnership with communities around the country. To date, the National has been presented in 27 cities. Musicians and craftspeople from every state in the Union and most U.S. territories have participated in this "moveable feast of deeply traditional folk arts." Presented to audiences free of charge over a three-day period, National Folk Festivals since 1987 have had audiences upwards of 175,000. Butte, Montana is the host city for the 70th, 71st and 72nd National Folk Festivals, 2008 - 2010. http://www.nationalfolkfestival.com/
The Cultural Exchange Council, a non-profit 501c3 organization, and the fiscal sponsor of Tucson Meet Yourself for 36 years, successfully attracted the National Folk Festival committee's attention with the suggestion of layering the National Folk Festival on top of the already successful Tucson Meet Yourself festival held annually the second weekend of October - an event co-founded by folklorist Jim Griffith and recognized as one of the Southwest's most respected traditional folk arts festivals.
This would be a first such collaboration with a well-established regional folk life festival. The National Folk Festival's three-year stay in each host city is normally intended to lay the groundwork for locally produced festivals and events that continue after the National moves on.
A site selection committee of four member of the National Council for the Traditional Arts will visit Tucson September 17th & 18th. The CEC has arranged meetings with key partners and stakeholders including the City of Tucson, Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Pima County, Tucson Pima Arts Council, Downtown Tucson Partnership, University of Arizona, business, community leaders, and participants of Tucson Meet Yourself.
Tucson Meet Yourself is October 9-10-11, 2009. This free multi-cultural festival celebrates the living traditional arts, culture and heritage for Tucson and Southern Arizona's folk and ethnic communities. http://www.tucsonmeetyourself.org/
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