National Folk Festival Starts Tonight

The 73rd Annual National Folk Festival starts this evening (9/2) at the Bicentennial Mall in downtown Nashville, offering a wide selection of music, dance, arts, food, and more.

Performers for the free event include Green Fields of America (Irish-American music/dance), Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano (Mexican mariachi), The Holmes Brothers (blues/gospel/r&b), Dale Ann Bradley (bluegrass), BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet (cajun), Road Mountain Hilltoppers (Appalachian string band), and many more. Events begin at 7 pm tonight (9/2), and Noon on Saturday (9/3) and Sunday (9/4). A full schedule is available here.

The Festival has also partnered with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to present a unique program for the Tennessee Folklife Stage and Demonstration Area sponsored by SunTrust. Titled “Nashville’s Musical Roots and Branches,” the stage will explore the city’s musical heritage with interviews and performances from gospel, bluegrass, early country, songwriter, and r&b artists. Each year this area plans to celebrate a different facet of Tennessee heritage and culture.

Part of a three-year tenure with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the National Folk Festival will call Nashville home for 2011, 2012 and its 75th anniversary in 2013.