List of 2008 Performers-click
here
Michigan State University Museum
Produces
Great Lakes Folk Festival
This FREE, unique fusion of arts fair, music festival, county fair, multi-ethnic
festival, hands-on activity workshops and celebration of cultural heritage
will be held Aug 8-10, 2008 in downtown East Lansing.
The Great Lakes Folk Festival showcases the traditional cultural treasures
of the nation's Upper Midwest and a sampling of the best of traditional artists
from around the country and the world.
The
festival encourages cross-cultural understanding of our diverse society through
the presentation of musicians, dancers, cooks, storytellers and craftspeople
whose traditions are rooted in their communities.
The festival includes nearly 100 musicians or dancers in groups, who perform
at least twice and sometimes as many as four times over the weekend. Also
featured are traditional and other food vendors, craft vendors and many other
individual artists/demonstrators. There are five performance stages (including
one with a 2,400 sq. ft. dance floor), a children's hands-on activity area,
crafts demonstrations, and crafts marketplace. In addition there are special
programs every year, which feature some aspect of traditional culture.
Under the
direction of the MSU Museum's Michigan
Traditional Arts Program--a statewide partnership program with the Michigan
Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA)--the festival also represents
partnerships of civic, business, education and arts agencies. Collaborators
for planning the Great Lakes Folk Festival include: The
City of East Lansing, WKAR/Radio,
MATRIX: The Center for Humane
Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online, The
Ten Pound Fiddle, Smithsonian
Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Michigan
Humanities Council, Center for Great Lakes Culture at Michigan State University,
and provincial and state folk arts programs of the Great Lakes region.
The Michigan State University Museum presents
events and exhibits year round. Click
here for more information.
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The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. is the world's largest museum and research complex, and the MSU Museum now works with the Smithsonian to develop new programs for the Great Lakes Folk Festival and other museum initiatives. Click here for more information!
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In order to continue making this family-friendly festival a free event, the Great Lakes Folk Festival relies on cash and in-kind support from a variety of sources, including Michigan State University, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of East Lansing. Other major primary sponsorships are being sought from public and private sources.
Go to Sponsors page
Go to Friends of the Festival page
Go to Make-a-Donation page
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The
festival showcases performers who learned their skills within distinct communities
and remain rooted in those communities. Their exposure to performance skills
is usually at an early age, learned firsthand (often within their own families)
and what they perform is an integral part of their particular culture.In this modern world, traditional musicians have easy access to other music styles beside their own and their music often incorporates new influences. They often perform for audiences outside their own community. But the core of what traditional musicians do continues to be the music that expresses the aesthetics and musicality of their community.
This festival presents artists who best maintain their allegiance to their traditional roots.
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The Music Selection Committee is no longer accepting artist submissions for the 2008 Great Lakes Folk Festival. To submit for 2009, please send information to:
For more information, contact:
-
Patrick Power
Great Lakes Folk Festival
Michigan State University Museum
West Circle Drive
East Lansing , MI 48824
USA
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Folk
Arts Marketplace InquiriesPlease contact:
Bill Matt
Great Lakes Folk Festival
Michigan State University Museum
West Circle Drive
East Lansing , MI 48824
USA
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- Festival Map
Click here for map of the Festival Site (Subject to change)
- Admission
Thanks to all our supporters, the Great Lakes Folk Festival is free to the public. Look for the Bucket Brigade and drop your generous donation in the buckets to help sustain this large-scale community event.
- Schedule
The 2008 stage schedule will be available about July 10
- Information Booths
General information is available throughout the festival at information booths located at several sites.
- Bucket Brigade
The folks who make up the Bucket Brigade are a happy corps of volunteers who offer festival goers an opportunity to help support the festival through on-site donations. Bucket Brigadiers carry decorated white plastic buckets throughout the festival to make giving easy. Each person who drops a donation in the bucket receives a sticker that says, "I support the Great Lakes Folk Festival!" Every dollar raised helps support the costs of the event.
Festival organizers feel it is important to make this festival accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial status. Therefore, admission is free. All visitors, however, are strongly urged to think about what this event means to them and to give what they can.
PS: Think about what you would pay for one concert by one of our performers--let alone all of the performances the festival offers--or what you would pay to have your children participate in all of the activitiesin the Children's Folk Arts Activity Area. Even a $5.00 donation per visitor per day is a bargain
Want to be part of the Bucket Brigade for the 2008 festival ?
Get the details at the Volunteer Information page.
What
If It Rains?
Generally mid-August is quite pleasant with warm, sunny days and cooler evenings but as Michiganders know well, it can also be rainy and quite cool. Unless weather conditions are life threatening or dangerous, the festival goes on "rain or shine."
To get online weather information, point your browser to: Sky Team 10 Weatherlab - WILX-TV www.wilx.com
- What To Bring?
Many of the stages and activity areas are under tents to protect visitors and performers from hard rain or too much sun but visitors are always encouraged to bring sunscreen, wear a hat and have an umbrella handy!
Collapsible chairs and blankets are handy for seating on the ground at the Valley Court Park Stage.
- Pets
at Festival
The festival grounds are swirling with music and sounds, smells and thousands of people in compact seating areas and thoroughfares. Please be considerate to your pets and fellow festival goers: leave pets at home when you visit the festival!
- Rest Rooms
Portable rest rooms are situated at numerous locations throughout the site.
Lost
and Found
During the festival a lost and found will be available on site at the Main Information Booth located at the corner of Albert and Abbott Streets. Inquiries after the festival about lost and found items should be directed to the City of East Lansing Police Department.
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The Michigan State University Museum is committed to understanding, interpreting, and respecting natural and cultural diversity. As Michigan's land grant university museum, this commitment to society is met through education, exhibitions, research and the building and stewardship of collections that focus on Michigan and its relationship to the Great Lakes and the world beyond.
The Michigan State University Museum was founded in 1857 and is Michigan's natural and cultural history museum. Its research, education, exhibition, and outreach programs serve the entire state.
Located on the MSU campus, on West Circle Drive and next to Beaumont Tower, the museum is open seven days a week, free of charge (donations are welcome).
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The MSU Museum's Michigan Traditional Arts Program (MTAP) promotes cross-cultural understanding in a diverse society through the documentation, preservation and presentation of the state's folk arts and folklife. Prior to co-producing the National Folk Festival from 1999-2001, MTAP produced the Festival of Michigan Folklife for 12 years, and curators and specialists are active in developing exhibitions, publications, and a wide variety of public programs.
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For more information about plans for the Great Lakes Folk Festival, call the GLFF phone line at 517.432.GLFF (517.432.4533) or email pr@museum.msu.edu.
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Lora Helou, Information & Museum Services, MSU Museum, (517) 432-3357 or pr@museum.msu.edu
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See highlights from National Folk Festival 2001, National Folk Festival 2000 and National Folk Festival 1999, preceding the Great Lakes Folk Festival.
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Highlights
of The Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing
See the reconstructed 2002
GLFF web page -- with Artist info only
See the 2003
GLFF web page -- with artist bios and photos.
See the 2004
GLFF web page -- with artist bios and photos.
See the
2005 GLFF web page --
with artist bios and photos
See the 2006 GLFF web page
-- with artist bios and photos
See the 2007 GLFF web page -- with artist bios
and photos
See the 2008 GLFF web page -- with artist bios
and photos
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