Ahead of the highly anticipated National Folk Festival’s three-year run in Mississippi’s capital city beginning in 2025, Jackson is holding a concert series to preview the event.
The one-day kickoff event, set for November 16, will feature a taste of what’s to come with three and a half hours of musical performances. Artists from Cajun to South Asian Kuchipudi dance, and from blues to salsa dura will fill the fall Jackson air with traditional tunes.
“This preview provides just a glimpse of the breadth of cultures and virtuosic artistry that audiences in Jackson and throughout the state of Mississippi can expect when the National Folk Festival launches downtown next November,” Blaine Waide, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), said.
“We’re thrilled to partner on a day of programs with leaders in the city’s arts and culture community, which demonstrates the festival’s commitment to partnerships and collaborations, something that is fundamental to its success in cities across the country.”
The National Folk Festival is America’s longest-running traditional arts event – a free, three-day outdoor multicultural celebration of the nation’s finest traditional artists. NCTA, the event’s producing organization, works with a new host city every three years. Jackson, selected in May, is expected to get an impact of around $60 million from the three-year event.
“I’m excited by what the kickoff suggests about the potential impacts that the National Folk Festival will have for families, and our youth in particular,” Dr. Ebony Lumumba, chair of the National Folk Festival executive committee, said. “To have these kinds of programs, entirely free, in our downtown will expose all of us, but especially our children, to new cultures, traditions, and ideas. It takes me back to the Jackson where I grew up.”
Before the kickoff program, which will be hosted in front of the “Welcome to Jackson” mural at the intersection of State and Pearl Streets, the Mississippi Museum of Art, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on November 16, will host an array of activities and performances alongside the opening of a new exhibit: Of Salt & Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South.
The Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument will also host visitors for free tours beginning at 9 a.m. on the same day.
Artists featured at the National Folk Festival kickoff event (4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.):
- BeauSoleil Trio (Lafayette, Louisiana) – Cajun
NEA National Heritage Fellow Michael Doucet, David Doucet, and Chad Huval offer up glorious twin fiddle and fiddle-accordion pairings accompanied by acoustic guitar, beloved sounds from the heart of Cajun tradition. The BeauSoleil Trio pays homage to past Cajun masters with delightful stories and beautiful tunes performed with freshness, immediacy, and unmatched virtuosity.
- Eddie Cotton, Jr. (Clinton, Mississippi) – Soul Blues
Bluesman Eddie Cotton, Jr.’s music is rooted in the church. His father was a Pentecostal minister who founded the Christ Chapel Church of God in Christ Church in nearby Clinton, Mississippi. From his start playing in the church at age six, Cotton has become a blues master with an international fan base. His career remains focused on two things: electrifying blues audiences near and far, and his commitment to his home church, where he serves as minister of music.
- Edwin Perez y Su Orquesta (New York, New York) – Salsa Dura
Born in New York, Edwin Perez was raised by his grandparents in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Edwin excelled singing in the church choir his grandfather directed but felt a strong draw to music that spoke to what he calls the “drums in my heart.” As an adult, he moved back to New York, where a chance encounter with a Cuban band transformed his private pursuit of music and eventually thrust him to the forefront of New York’s Latin music scene.
- Yamini Kalluri & the Kritya Music Ensemble (Lansing, Michigan) – Kuchipudi Dance
At just 26, Yamini Kalluri is an internationally acclaimed Kuchipudi performer, choreographer, and teacher. Born in the United States, Kalluri grew up in Hyderabad, India, where she began studying this classical dance form at age seven. One of India’s nine classical dance forms, Kuchipudi is known for its expressive and theatrical storytelling, emphasis on dexterity and vigor, and a final act danced upon the rim of a brass plate.
Artists featured at the preceding event at Mississippi Museum of Art (11 a.m. –3 p.m.):
- Annie & the Caldwell Singers (West Point, Mississippi) – Gospel
A true family affair, Annie & the Caldwell Singers deliver the glorious quartet gospel singing of Annie Caldwell along with her husband and five of their children. Their energetic and moving musical testimonies, blending fiery gospel sounds with the slow-burn groove of soul, have made them longtime favorites on the traditional gospel circuit.
- Chief Shaka Zulu (New Orleans, Louisiana) – New Orleans Black masking craftsman & stilt dancer
A National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) National Heritage Fellow, Chief Shaka Zulu is a master of Black Masking suit design, a tradition native to New Orleans and its interwoven history of Indigenous and Black culture. Zulu is also a revered drummer and stilt dancer, both rooted in the city’s West African traditions.
All events as part of the kickoff event are free to the public. Seating for the National Folk Festival in downtown Jackson opens at 3:30 p.m.
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