American culture doesn’t have a singular sound, and nowhere is that clearer than at The National Folk Festival.
Now in its 83rd year, the traveling festival soon returns to Jackson for the second year of a three-year residency, bringing together artists carrying traditions from across the country and around the world. New York beatboxing, Texas country, Hawaiian falsetto, Filipino rondalla music, and more will echo across multiple stages.
Between performances, sample Southern favorites like catfish and pulled pork, save room for gourmet banana pudding and handcrafted lemonade, and browse a marketplace of handmade wares from Mississippi artisans and makers from beyond the state’s borders.
Pro tip: Set aside time for an afternoon in Fondren, a historic district lined with independent shops and local eateries. Stop at Brent’s Drugs, a 1940s soda shop and restaurant where Emma Stone filmed a scene for the 2011 adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s “The Help.”
