The Washington Folk Festival showcases the diversity of traditional music in all its complexity. Every year features a new mix of cultures, from Slavic singing to banjos and bluegrass and everything in between.  All musicians, storytellers, dancers, and craftspeople live in the greater Washington metropolitan area and volunteer their talents to put on a first class festival of national renown. With performances representing cultures from around the world as well as around the country, it is your chance to find out what is going on in the folk communities of the area.

We need volunteers!

This is an all-volunteer event: everyone, including the performers, planners, technicians, and sound engineers, EVERYONE donates their services. We Need You! Tell us about some of your talents and interests and we will find a place for you to contribute to the Washington Folk Festival's ongoing success. During the festival, we need help with stage crews, information booths, instrument check, food service, volunteer and performer check-in, and facilitating last minute changes. In addition, we also need volunteers every weekend in May to help prepare for the festival.  

To volunteer, fill out the form at: Festival Volunteer

Potential performers

If you are a local musician, dance group, or storyteller interested in being considered as a performer in the Folk Festival, please fill out an application form.  Filling out a Google Form is the preferred method, which saves paper, time, and stamps. However, you can also fill out this Word doc and mail to the address provided therein, or email it back to us. We strive to maintain a variety of traditional folk genres on our stages, and select performers based on musical quality as well as the tradition represented. General inquiries or questions can also be sent to the Program Committee email box. Applications accepted through January 31, 2020.

Potential Handcrafters

Every year, the festival offers space for artisans to showcase and sell their wares. If you are interested in exhibiting at the festival, the 2020 application will be very similar to this 2019 Craft Vendor Application.

See what happened previous years

WFF schedule 2018 (pdf, 223 KB)

WFF schedule 2017 (pdf, 18.6MB)

WFF schedule 2016 (pdf, 238KB)