A folk festival celebrates traditional and folk music. 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 or ethnic foods.
has long been exhibited at such events and festival-like gatherings, as it has its roots in the rural crafts. Like folk art, handicraft output often has cultural, political, and/or religious significance. Folk art encompasses art produced from an indigenous culture or by peasants or other laboring tradespeople. In contrast to fine art, 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 reenactments and events such as .
Africa
South Africa
Misty Waters Music Festival
Asia
Bangladesh
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Dhaka International Folk Fest
India
Israel
Europe
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Europeade (held each year in a different European country)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Ilidža Folk Music Festival
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Ilidža International Children's Folklore Festival
Belgium
Bulgaria
Stara planina fest Balkan folk
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
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Kaustinen Folk Music Festival
France
Germany
Festival-Mediaval XIV, "Folk of the World"
Greece
Kerasovo Festival, Ioannina
Ireland
Lithuania
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Kaziuko mugė, Vilnius
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Mėnuo Juodaragis, Zarasai
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Parbėg laivelis, Klaipėda
Netherlands
Russia
Spain
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Interceltic Festival of Avilés
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Interceltic Festival of Morrazo
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Ortigueira's Festival of Celtic World
United Kingdom
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Between The Trees
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Beverley Folk Festival
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Cambridge Folk Festival
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Celtic Connections
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England's Medieval Festival
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Edinburgh Folk Festival
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Fairport's Cropredy Convention
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FolkEast Festival
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The Green Man Festival
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Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival
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Middlewich Folk and Boat Festival
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Shetland Folk Festival
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Shrewsbury Folk Festival
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Sidmouth Folk Festival
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Soma Festival
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Wickham Festival
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Wimborne Folk Festival
North America
Honduras
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Encuentro Folklórico Nacional El Grande de Grandes
Canada
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Calgary Folk Music Festival
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Canmore Folk Music Festival
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Edmonton Folk Music Festival
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Vancouver Folk Music Festival
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Winnipeg Folk Festival (Birds Hill)
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Celtic Colours (Cape Breton)
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Stan Rogers Folk Festival (Canso)
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CityFolkFestival (Ottawa)
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Emerald Music Festival
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Hillside Festival (Guelph)
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Home County Folk Festival (London)
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Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival
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Mariposa Folk Festival (Orillia)
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Mill Race Festival of Traditional Folk Music (Cambridge)
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Newfoundland & Labrador Folk Festival (St. John's)
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Northern Lights Festival Boréal (Sudbury)
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Red Rock Folk Festival (Red Rock)
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Regina Folk Festival
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Summerfolk Music and Crafts Festival (Owen Sound)
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TD Canada Trust Sunfest (London)
United States
Alaska
Arizona
California
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Big Sur Folk Festival
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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
District of Columbia
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Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Florida
Illinois
Fox Valley Folk Music And Storytelling Festival
Indiana
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Feast of the Hunters' Moon
Maine
Massachusetts
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Lowell Folk Festival
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New England Folk Festival
Montana
New Jersey
New York
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Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
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Old Songs Festival
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
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Woody Guthrie Folk Festival
Oregon
Pennsylvania
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Flood City Music Festival
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Philadelphia Folk Festival
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Pittsburgh Folk Festival
Rhode Island
Tennessee
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The Americana Folk Festival
Texas
Traveling
Washington
Wisconsin
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Great River Folk Fest
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Holiday Folk Fair
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Mile of Music
Oceania
Australia
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National Folk Festival
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Woodford Folk Festival
New Zealand
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Whare Flat Folk Festival - held over the New Year period at Whare Flat near Dunedin; run by Dunedin's New Edinburgh Folk Club
Further reading
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Coffin, Tristam P.; Cohen, Hennig, (editors), Folklore in America; tales, songs, superstitions, proverbs, riddles, games, folk drama and folk festivals, Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1966. Selections from the Journal of American folklore. Cf. chapter on "Folk Drama and Folk Festival", pp. 195–225,
