A folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

. This list includes folk festivals worldwide, except those with only a partial focus on folk music or arts. Folk festivals may also feature

folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...

or ethnic foods.

Handicraft A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

ing has long been exhibited at such events and festival-like gatherings, as it has its roots in the

rural crafts Rural crafts refers to the traditional crafts production that is carried on, simply for everyday practical use, in the agricultural countryside. Once widespread and commonplace, the survival of some rural crafts is threatened.Mapping Heritage Craf ...

. Like folk art, handicraft output often has cultural, political, and/or religious significance. Folk art encompasses art produced from an

indigenous culture There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

or by

peasants A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising f ...

or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

, folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative rather than purely aesthetic, and is often sold at festivals by tradespeople or practicing amateurs.West, Shearer (general editor), ''The Bullfinch Guide to Art History'', page 440, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, United Kingdom, 1996. As at folk festivals, such art and handicraft may also appear at

historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historical uniforms and follow a plan to recreate aspects of a histor ...

s and events such as

Renaissance fair A Renaissance Festival (medieval fair or ren faire) is an outdoor gathering that aims to entertain its guests by recreating a historical setting, most often the English Renaissance. Renaissance festivals generally include costumed entertainers ...

Africa

South Africa

Misty Waters Music Festival

Asia

Bangladesh

* Dhaka International Folk Fest

India

* Gavari - Sacred Dance Drama Festival

Israel

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder () is a ladder or staircase leading to Heaven that was featured in a dream the Biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of the dream has been de ...

Europe

* Europeade (held each year in a different European country)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ilidža Folk Music Festival The Ilidža Folk Music Festival (; sr-Cyrl, Фестивал народне музике Илиџа) is the oldest living and premier folk music festival in the Former Yugoslavia. It is held annually in Ilidža, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. ...

Ilidža International Children's Folklore Festival The Ilidža International Children's Folklore Festival () is an annual cultural festival held in Ilidža, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country ...

Belgium

* Boombal Festival

Bulgaria

Stara planina fest Balkan folk

Denmark

Tønder Festival Tønder Festival is an annual folk music festival in Tønder, Denmark. It is held on the last weekend of August. It was founded in 1974. The first festival took place in 1975. The festival is one of the most prominent festivals for traditional an ...

Estonia

Viljandi Folk Festival The Viljandi Folk Music Festival is a music festival in Estonia with a central focus on European folk music. It is traditionally held during the last weekend of July, when the otherwise quiet city of Viljandi is completely transformed as the smal ...

Finland

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival Kaustinen Folk Music Festival (), celebrated yearly in July in Kaustinen, Finland, is the biggest folk music and folk dance, dance festival in the Nordic countries. It was first celebrated in 1968. The festival originated in showcasing the famous ...

France

Festival Interceltique de Lorient __NOTOC__ The (French), Emvod Ar Gelted An Oriant (Breton) or Inter-Celtic Festival of Lorient in English, is an annual Celts (modern), Celtic festival, located in the city of Lorient, Brittany, France. It was founded in 1971 by . This annual ...

* Rencontres Internationales de Luthiers et Maîtres-Sonneurs

Germany

Festival-Mediaval XIV, "Folk of the World"

Greece

Kerasovo Festival, Ioannina

Ireland

Temple Bar TradFest TradFest is an annual music and culture festival that takes place at the end of January in Dublin, Ireland. The festival, which celebrates Irish traditional and folk music and cultural offerings, was founded by the Temple Bar Company, a not-for ...

Lithuania

Kaziuko mugė ''Kaziuko mugė'' or Saint Casimir's Fair is a large annual folk arts and crafts fair in Lithuania, dating to the beginning of the 17th century. The fair is traditionally held in city's markets and streets on the Sunday nearest to 4 March (Feast o ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Mėnuo Juodaragis Mėnuo Juodaragis ( or Moon of the Black Horn, sometimes abbreviated as BHM (''MJR'')) was an annual Baltic culture, alternative music, folk music and experimental music festival organized in Lithuania. It has been ran between 1995-2024 and was v ...

Zarasai Zarasai () is a city in northeastern Lithuania, surrounded by many lakes and rivers: to the southwest of the city is Lake Zarasas, to the northLake Zarasaitis, to the southeastLake Baltas, and the eastLake Griežtas. Lakes Zarasaitis and Griežtas ...

Parbėg laivelis Parbėg laivelis is an international folk festival in Klaipėda, Lithuania. The festival is held once every two years, in June or July. Its name Parbėg laivelis could be translated as ''Little ship is coming back''. 2006 edition Parbėg laivelis 2 ...

Klaipėda Klaipėda ( ; ) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. It is the List of cities in Lithuania, third-largest city in Lithuania, the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, fifth-largest city in the Baltic States, and the capi ...

Netherlands

Castlefest Castlefest is a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, held in the gardens of Castle Keukenhof in Lisse since 2005. History During the first edition in 2005, 3,500 visitors attended the event, in 2007 the festival attracted 16,000 visitor ...

* Worldfestival Parade Brunssum

Russia

* Empty Hills,

Kaluga Oblast Kaluga Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kaluga. The Russian Census (2021), 2021 Russian Census found a population o ...

Grushinsky festival Grushinsky festival () is an annual Russian Bard (Soviet Union), bard song festival that was established in 1968. It takes place near the city of Samara, Russia, Samara, on the Mastryukovo lakes. The festival takes its name from Valeri Grushin, a ...

, near

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

Spain

Interceltic Festival of Avilés The Interceltic Festival of Avilés (FIA) is a summer arts festival held annually in Avilés, and the surrounding area in Asturias, Spain since 1997. The festival is held to promote the cultural traditions, and developments, of the Celtic natio ...

* Interceltic Festival of Morrazo *

Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World Ortigueira, a seaport and borough in County Ferrolterra (A Coruña) in Galicia, celebrates its patron saint day -Saint Martha of Ortigueira's Day- on 29 July. Held during Saint Martha's day, Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World (Festival Inte ...

United Kingdom

*Between The Trees * Beverley Folk Festival *

Cambridge Folk Festival The Cambridge Folk Festival is an annual music festival, established in 1965, held in the grounds of Cherry Hinton Hall in Cherry Hinton, one of the villages subsumed by the city of Cambridge, England. The festival is known for its eclectic mix ...

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of trad ...

* England's Medieval Festival * Edinburgh Folk Festival *

Fairport's Cropredy Convention Fairport's Cropredy Convention (formerly Cropredy Festival) is an annual festival of folk and rock music, headed by British folk-rock band Fairport Convention and held on the edge of the village of Cropredy in Oxfordshire, England. The festi ...

FolkEast FolkEast is an English music festival which started in 2012 at Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk, England. In 2013, it relocated to Glemham Hall in Little Glemham, Suffolk, where it currently holds its annual festival on the weekend before the August b ...

Festival * The Green Man Festival *

Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival The Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival (IVFDF) is the longest-running folk festival in the United Kingdom, running annually since 1951. The festival is organized and hosted by university folk societies, and is held in a different location each ...

* Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival *

Shetland Folk Festival Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

Shrewsbury Folk Festival Shrewsbury Folk Festival is an annual festival of folk and world music and traditional dance held in the town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. It takes place over four days on and around the UK Late Summer bank holiday weekend (usually th ...

* Sidmouth Folk Festival *

Soma Festival The Soma Festival (, or ''sóma'', meaning ''drink of the Gods'', see Soma (drink); ) is an annual music, arts, and cultural festival. The festival includes concerts, musical performances, well-being activities, art exhibitions, food and drink st ...

Wickham Festival Wickham Festival is a four-day music event that takes place in the village of Wickham, Hampshire, Wickham, Hampshire, England. Wickham hosts live music and comedy across four stages, as well as food stalls, craft stalls, real ale and cider bars ...

* Wimborne Folk Festival

North America

Honduras

* Encuentro Folklórico Nacional ''El Grande de Grandes''

Canada

Calgary Folk Music Festival The Calgary Folk Music Festival (also known as "Calgary Folk Fest", or CFMF) is a Canadian music festival held on the fourth weekend of July each year at Prince's Island Park (Calgary), Prince's Island Park, Calgary, Alberta. The four-day event fe ...

* Canmore Folk Music Festival *

Edmonton Folk Music Festival The Edmonton Folk Music Festival (EFMF) is an annual four-day outdoor music event held the second weekend of August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, established in 1980 by Don Whalen. and a core group of volunteers. The festival continues to draw man ...

Vancouver Folk Music Festival The Vancouver Folk Music Festival (VFMF), founded in 1978, is an outdoor multistage music festival, located at Jericho Beach, Jericho Beach Park on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia. It takes place annually on the third weekend of Jul ...

Winnipeg Folk Festival The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a nonprofit charitable organization with an annual summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The festival features a variety of artists and music from around t ...

(Birds Hill) *

Celtic Colours Celtic Colours International Festival is a Celtic music festival held annually in October on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. First held in 1997, the festival has featured musicians from the Celtic world and attracted visitors to Cape ...

(Cape Breton) *

Stan Rogers Folk Festival The Stan Rogers Folk Festival, informally known as Stanfest, is an annual music festival held in Canso, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 in honour of the late Canadian folk singer and songwriter Stan Rogers, the festival bills itself as "Canada's ...

(Canso) * CityFolkFestival (Ottawa) * Emerald Music Festival *

Hillside Festival The Hillside Festival is an annual three-day, five-stage (including one kids' stage) summer festival occurring in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, hosting musicians, spoken word artists, workshops and more. The Hillside Festival occurs in late July on Gu ...

(Guelph) * Home County Folk Festival (London) * Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival *

Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a fe ...

(Orillia) * Mill Race Festival of Traditional Folk Music (Cambridge) *Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival (St. John's) *

Northern Lights Festival Boréal Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual summer music festival in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. It is one of Canada's oldest continuous music festivals, having been staged every year since 1972 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Sudbury) * Red Rock Folk Festival (Red Rock) *

Regina Folk Festival The Regina Folk Festival (RFF) was an annual music festival held in Victoria Park in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. A three-night and two-day event usually held the second weekend of August, the RFF attracted more than 35,000 people. It operated wi ...

Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival, also known as Summerfolk, is a Canadian folk music festival founded in 1976. It is held annually at Kelso Beach Park in Owen Sound, Ontario on the third weekend of August, drawing thousands of attendees each ye ...

(Owen Sound) * TD Canada Trust Sunfest (London)

United States

Alaska

* Alaska Folk Festival

Arizona

Tucson Folk Festival Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson metropolitan s ...

California

Big Sur Folk Festival The Big Sur Folk Festival, held from 1964 to 1971 in California, was an informal gathering of prominent and emerging folk artists from across the United States. Nancy Jane Carlen (1941–2013) was working at the Esalen Institute when Joan Baez ...

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (HSB), originally Strictly Bluegrass, is an annual free and non-commercial music festival held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. Conceived and subsidized by San Francisco ven ...

District of Columbia

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

Florida

Florida Folk Festival Florida Folk Festival is a long-running annual folk music festival in Hamilton County, Florida. It began in 1953. Thelma Boltin was an organizer for the festival. The festival has also featured presentations in the Mikasuki language. References ...

Illinois

Fox Valley Folk Music And Storytelling Festival Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

Indiana

* Feast of the Hunters' Moon

Maine

American Folk Festival The American Folk Festival is an annual folk festival held during August at Waterfront Park in Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, ...

Massachusetts

Lowell Folk Festival The Lowell Folk Festival is the longest-running, and second-largest, free folk festival in the United States. Only Seattle's Northwest Folklife is larger, both in attendance and number of performance stages. It is made up of three days of tradition ...

New England Folk Festival The New England Folk Festival is an annual weekend festival of traditional dance and music. It takes place in the Boston, Massachusetts region each spring. It is conducted by the New England Folk Festival Association. Both the festival and the ...

Montana

* Montana Folk Festival

New Jersey

* New Jersey Folk Festival

New York

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music and dance festival currently held at the Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut History The first festival was a two-day event in 1988, held at a ski slope. In 1991, the festiv ...

* Old Songs Festival

North Carolina

Folkmoot USA Folkmoot USA, The State International Festival of North Carolina, is an international folk festival held since 1984 in Waynesville, North Carolina and surrounding communities. During its history, the two-week event has featured around 8000 perform ...

North Dakota

Norsk Høstfest Norsk Høstfest (Norwegian language: "''Norwegian Autumn Festival (literally: Norwegian Harvest Festival)''") is an annual festival held each fall in Minot, North Dakota, US. It is North America's largest Scandinavian festival. History The event ...

Oklahoma

Woody Guthrie Folk Festival The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 – the date of Guthrie's birth – in Guthrie's hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma ...

Oregon

Sisters Folk Festival The Sisters Folk Festival is an annual three-day roots music festival held in Sisters, Oregon, United States the weekend after Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated ...

Pennsylvania

Flood City Music Festival Flood City Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, presented by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. The festival began in 1989 as a street fair to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Johnstown Flood ...

Philadelphia Folk Festival The Philadelphia Folk Festival is a folk music festival held annually at Old Pool Farm in Upper Salford, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. The four-night, three-day festival is produced and run by the non-profit Philadelphia Folkson ...

* Pittsburgh Folk Festival

Rhode Island

Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...

Tennessee

* The Americana Folk Festival

Texas

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival with camping, held for nearly three weeks each year, in late spring/early summer, at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The festival draws around 30,000 people. It aims to present establish ...

Traveling

* National Folk Festival

Washington

Northwest Folklife Northwest Folklife is an independent 501(c)(3) arts organization that celebrates the multigenerational arts, cultures, and traditions of a global Pacific Northwest. The Northwest Folklife Festival is an annual festival of ethnic, folk, and tradi ...

Wisconsin

Great River Folk Fest Riverside Park is a public park located on the riverfront of downtown La Crosse, Wisconsin. It hosts events such as Riverfest, Fourth of July fireworks, Oktoberfest – La Crosse, Wisconsin, Oktoberfest, Moon Tunes, and the Rotary Lights. The st ...

* Holiday Folk Fair * Mile of Music

Oceania

Australia

* National Folk Festival *

Woodford Folk Festival The Woodford Folk Festival is an annual music and cultural festival held near the semi-rural town of Woodford, Queensland, Woodford, north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the biggest annual cultural e ...

New Zealand

* Whare Flat Folk Festival - held over the New Year period at

Whare Flat Whare Flat is a locality some 15 km to the northwest of Dunedin city centre, in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located at a widening of the Silver Stream's valley amid the foothills of the Silverpeaks. Whare Flat is the location of a ...

near

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

; run by Dunedin's New Edinburgh Folk Club