Salisbury to host National Folk Festival starting in 2018

Salisbury will play host to a major festival and tourism draw next year that is expected to bring in tens of millions of dollars to the city.

The National Folk Festival, which travels from city to city every three years, has selected Salisbury as its venue starting in September 2018, Mayor Jake Day announced Monday.

The festival will remain through 2019 and 2020, he said.

City officials have been working hard in recent years to redefine Salisbury through arts and culture with events such as Third Friday, the Downtown Salisbury Festival, River City Arts Jam and the Shore Craft Beer Fest, Day said.

“That's who we are, that’s where we want to be,” he said. “We are on a path."

The event, which is presented free of charge, is expected to attract 150,000 people and generate $15 million to $30 million in the local economy, city officials said.

It will bring with it as many as six stages of continuous music, a dance pavilion, traditional crafts, regional food, storytelling, parades and folklife demonstrations to downtown Salisbury. 

“This will be a major new arts destination event,” Day said.

BACKGROUND: Salisbury hopes new marathon will have nationwide draw

BACKGROUND: Salisbury Festival to bring food, music, rides — and business boost, officials hope

Julia Olin, executive director of the Silver Spring, Maryland-based National Council for the Traditional Arts, which produces the festival, said it is the first time the festival has been held in the group’s home state.

Festival organizers visited Salisbury in February to evaluate the city and determine its suitability for the multiple-stage event, meeting with officials from the city, Ward Museum, Salisbury-Wicomico Economic Development, Wicomico County Tourism, Chamber of Commerce and Salisbury University.

“We’re looking for people power,” Olin said. “That’s the kind of place we want to be and that’s the way we see Salisbury.”

The festival showcases “grassroots music of the people,” that embraces arts of all cultural communities in the United States, she said. Festival-goers can expect to hear a range of musical genres including blues, salsa, gospel and New Orleans-style jazz.

“There’s something for everybody,” Olin said.

This September, the National Folk Festival will celebrate its 77th anniversary in Greensboro, North Carolina, where it has been since 2015. It had been in 28 other U.S. cities prior to Greensboro, according to the festival website.

The festival started in St. Louis in 1934, and was championed in its early years by first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. “Some of the artists presented at the first festival are now legendary and the recordings and other documentation made possible by the National are precious,” according to the group’s website.  

“Father of the Blues” W.C. Handy’s first performance on a desegregated stage was at the 1938 National Folk Festival. It was also the first to present to the public musical forms such as the blues, Cajun music, polka bands, Tex-Mex conjunto, Peking Opera and many others.

National Folk Festivals have drawn audiences of 100,000 to 175,000 annually since 1987, according to the website.