NEA Cuts Put Mississippi’s National Folk Fest In Jeopardy

For the first time since its founding in 1934, the National Folk Festival will take place in Jackson, Mississippi. The event is scheduled to run in 2025, 2026 and 2027, celebrating 250 years of American history and marking the festival’s debut in the Deep South. 

Since the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was first founded, the National Folk Festival has received a grant for its annual event. That was until May 2, when they received an email terminating their grant for 2025 and withdrawing their grants for 2026 and 2027. 

Read More: In Wake of $25+ Mil. NEA Grant Termination, Non-Profit Arts Funding Up In The Air

The email detailed the NEA’s new priorities, outlining the funding would be driven to “projects that elevate the Nation’s HBCUs and Hispanic Serving Institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to serve communities, assist with disaster recovery, foster skilled trade jobs, make America healthy again, support the military and veterans, support Tribal communities, make the District of Columbia safe and beautiful, and support the economic development of Asian American communities.” 

For those running the National Folk Festival, the email led to more questions than answers.

“Initially, our reaction was a little bit of confusion, almost feeling like there might have been a misunderstanding because several of the new criteria highlighted in the email we received, the National Folk Festival meets,” Blaine Waide, executive director for the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), which oversees the National Folk Festival, tells Pollstar. “There was a mention of the importance of celebrating the 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence in 2026. The National Folk Festival is actually one of Mississippi’s signature events for its America 250 celebration. We’re partnering statewide with the America 250 Mississippi Commission. The festival is listed on America250.org. We have several commissioners from Mississippi’s America 250 Commission on our festival executive committee.” 

Jackson is the largest metropolitan area in the state, and its current slogan is “The City with Soul.” The NCTA opted to bring the National Folk Festival to the area because of its connection to blues, gospel, folk and jazz. Mississippi is considered the home of the blues, and trailblazers like Robert Johnson, David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Willie Brown, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and B.B. King were born in Mississippi, as well as Elvis Presley. The Delta blues were also born in the state of Mississippi, and the National Folk Festival aims to highlight the state’s storied music history.

In addition to its Mississippi event highlighting the 250th celebration, the National Folk Festival in Jackson intends to partner with several of the six HBCUs located in Mississippi and several of the tribal nations in the area, including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, further leading to confusion as to why their funding was withdrawn.

“It felt like there had to be a misunderstanding because there were so many different aspects of the festival aligned very closely with the new priorities that were outlined in the email we received,” Waide says. “So, we have filed an appeal. Beyond that, we’re starting to look at other funding resources locally, regionally, and nationally. It’s unfortunate because this is a festival that the NEA has supported for over 50 years. For the NEA’s 50th anniversary, they even did a video feature on the National Folk Festival. But it just means we’re going to have to reach out to new foundations and continue to find other funding opportunities locally to make up the gap.

“The challenge, and it’s something I’m already noticing, is that the number of people impacted by this means a lot of people are looking to those same resources,” Waide continues. “It’s going to be very competitive. And some of those have been impacted themselves by cuts at the federal level.” 

Since the National Folk Festival was founded, it has landed in various cities across the nation for three years at a time. Once the event leaves, hosting cities often keep the festivities going with events bringing in local talent and partners. 

“We have festivals that are still going that we started 40 years ago,” Waide says. “Lowell, Massachusetts, which hosted the National Folk Festival from 1987 to 1989, is about to celebrate its 38th anniversary. It’s one of the largest festivals in New England, and it’s really considered one of the driving forces behind revitalizing downtown. And it’s still going. The Richmond Folk Festival just celebrated its 20th year. The National was there from 2005 to 2007. It brings over 200,000 people to the downtown riverfront in Richmond, Virginia, each year.”

While their funding remains up in the air, Waide and the rest of the NCTA are looking at other avenues in order to ensure the event continues as scheduled. 

“We’ve never had this event in Mississippi. What it can mean here, which does not have a statewide music festival – I think it’s just a prime location for the festival. So, we’re very excited about that,” Waide adds. “But it’s not a state that has a lot of wealth in it. So, fundraising and what people are used to giving is less than that in other states. And, it’s not a state that in recent years has gotten as much NEA support. So it just seemed ideally situated as an event that really needed this kind of support. It’s a major loss for it, and it’s a big gap that we have to make up.”