Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival

Celebrate the life of culturally traditional music, dance, food and artwork at the 3rd Annual Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival, supported by various UMBC almuni, faculty and students.

The all day event, brimming with visually stunning, inter-arts performances by a diverse collection of members of the Maryland community, is a program of the Maryland State Arts Council. Listen to jazz or doo-wop; watch Native American dance and drum or Irish dance; make art with the masters and more. View the complete program here.

Held annually for audiences to "discover, share and sustain our living traditions", the Festival, coordinated in part by UMBC Folklorist-in-Residence, Dr. Michelle Stefano, American studies, brings together UMBC students, alumni and faculty as they translate their classroom experience -- involving cultural documentation -- into community action. 

UMBC students volunteering in the events took part in UMBC's Mill Stories project this spring, a collaborative program meant to help preserve stories from the Sparrows Point community. Students were introduced to the ideas, techniques and ethical considerations that underpin qualitative research within communities, particularly from an out-in-the-field perspective.

The Maryland Traditions Folklife Festival will take place Saturday, June 15, at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore. Admission is free and events begin at 11:00am. View the full program, which includes a performance by headlining act and UMBC alumnus, Lafayette Gilchrist '92, at the Maryland State Arts Council's website.