Three days of music, food, and craft

An interactive garden of heirloom plants, native crops, and the Arkansas growing traditions that have nourished communities for generations.

A community weaving project that invites festival-goers to add strips of reclaimed fabric to a growing 5x6 ft loom, building one collective artwork from many hands.

Create an individual quilt square for the inaugural Arkansas Folklife Quilt, a collaborative artwork stitching together stories from across the state.

A mobile recording studio and community archive capturing Arkansas voices during the America 250 commemoration. Step inside, share a story, write a letter to the future.

A textile canopy suspended overhead, stitched from fabrics representing communities across Arkansas: a quilted celebration of cultural diversity and mixed-ethnic heritage.

Hand-painted wooden cutouts of Arkansas people, places, foods, and traditions from across all six culturesheds, positioned at the festival entrance as a gateway into The People’s 250.

Louisiana‑born and Arkansas‑naturalized songwriter Dylan Earl kicks off the festival with an alt‑country set drawn from his 2025 album <em>Level‑Headed Even Smile</em>.

Pat Johnson of the Eddie Mae Herron Center and writer Meredith Martin-Moats discuss the long, patient work of building community through place, story, and shared tradition.

A community dance ensemble brings the bright costumes, intricate footwork, and centuries of Mexican folklórico tradition to the festival floor.

Fayetteville’s master of nineteenth‑century banjo brings minstrel, gourd, and old‑time tunes to the Front Porch venue for an afternoon of music, history, and stories.

Discover the simple magic of fermentation in this hands-on demonstration with Susan Belsinger and Tina Marie Wilcox.

The Mosaic Templars Cultural Center leads a hands-on session on braiding as an enduring African American tradition of art, identity, and community.

Joycelyn Thomas and the JT Line Dancers lead a Friday-evening workshop on the energy, rhythm, and community joy of line dancing. No experience required.

Raise a glass to Arkansas craft brewing culture with Marty Shutter of Ozark Beer Co. and Barrett Tillman of Black Man Brewing.

A Northwest Arkansas string band brings the songs of the Ozark woods, the railroad tie camps, and a region that built much of the country with axe, saw, and song.

Osceola’s own UniverSOUL artist Iyuana Childs brings her full band to the festival for a Friday‑evening set that crosses gospel, soul, country, and Delta R&B in a single sweat‑soaked breath.

Closing out Friday night, the Grammy‑winning bluesman brings his full band to the festival main stage for a set that distills seven decades of Delta blues showmanship into a single, sweat‑soaked performance.

Pull up a chair and help shell peas while we build a community time-lapse of one of Arkansas’s most cherished porch traditions.

An interactive garden of heirloom plants, native crops, and the Arkansas growing traditions that have nourished communities for generations.

A community weaving project that invites festival-goers to add strips of reclaimed fabric to a growing 5x6 ft loom, building one collective artwork from many hands.

Create an individual quilt square for the inaugural Arkansas Folklife Quilt, a collaborative artwork stitching together stories from across the state.

A mobile recording studio and community archive capturing Arkansas voices during the America 250 commemoration. Step inside, share a story, write a letter to the future.

A textile canopy suspended overhead, stitched from fabrics representing communities across Arkansas: a quilted celebration of cultural diversity and mixed-ethnic heritage.

Hand-painted wooden cutouts of Arkansas people, places, foods, and traditions from across all six culturesheds, positioned at the festival entrance as a gateway into The People’s 250.

Community procession from the Clinton Library to the festival main stage, celebrating the songs that have powered Arkansas movements for justice and community.

Three veteran Arkansas string-band players come together to talk about teaching and playing old-time music in the Ozarks.

Maryi Cabrera presents pollo chuco, a beloved Honduran street food tradition brought to Arkansas.

Three of the most distinctive young voices in North American traditional music share the stage for an intimate set of original songs, fiddle tunes, and old‑time tradition.

Sweetheart folk duo from the Boston Mountains bringing tight harmonies and original songs to the Cultural Crossroads Stage. ASL interpretation provided.

Master bladesmith Jerry Fisk and Arkansas Arts Council Program Coordinator Scarlet Sims celebrate the Arkansas Living Treasure Award as it enters its 25th year.

Susan Belsinger and Tina Marie Wilcox share Ozark-grown herbal remedies. ASL interpretation provided.

Designer Rulli Torres presents five original quinceañera looks on the runway with Carolina Mendoza singing live. The fashion show companion to The People’s Quinceañera Dress activation.

Pull up a chair on the porch with Paw Paw, S. Juain Young’s grandfather-figure character: songs, stories, and reflection rooted in the Arkansas Delta.

The creator of ArkanSalsa, a Puerto Rican‑Arkansas fusion 33 years in the making, brings Caribbean rhythm and Arkansas soul to the festival main stage.

Pull up a chair and join the Rackensack Folklore Society’s open circle of fiddle tunes, folk songs, and the simple joy of making music together. ASL interpretation provided.

Pioneering glass bead makers Tom and Sage Holland discuss flamework glass beadmaking in community, from a life lived off-grid in the Meadowcreek Valley. ASL interpretation provided.

Philip Wood and the Arkansas Boy Scouts celebrate outdoor cooking traditions with cast iron. ASL interpretation provided.

Award-winning musician Duane Porterfield demonstrates the McSpadden Mountain Dulcimer on the Front Porch Stage, presented by Mountain View’s renowned Dulcimer Shoppe.

Three pillars of Ozark traditional music share the stage for an afternoon of fiddle tunes, fingerstyle guitar, and stories from decades inside Arkansas’s deepest musical lineage.

Carolina Mendoza, Jude Brothers, and Cindy Woolf trade ballads and stories from the Ozark women’s tradition on the Cultural Crossroads Stage. ASL interpretation provided.

Tina Marie Wilcox brings forty years of Ozark herb wisdom from the Ozark Folk Center to the Front Porch venue for a session of plant talk and herbal stories. ASL interpretation provided.

Forty minutes of old-time banjo, history, and laughs with Clarke Buehling, rolling across the river on the River Rail streetcar.

Master Anupriya Krishnan and her apprentice Sangamitra Reshmy bring the classical Indian dance tradition of Bharatanatyam to The Common Thread Stage with rhythmic footwork, sculptural gesture, and centuries of storytelling.

Matt Feyerabend of Pure Joy Ice Cream explores the pawpaw, North America’s largest native fruit and one of Arkansas’s hidden culinary treasures.

Willi Carlisle leads a hands-on workshop on songwriting as a tool for civic memory, storytelling, and collective voice.

Forty minutes of old-time banjo, history, and laughs with Clarke Buehling, rolling across the river on the River Rail streetcar.

Banjoist Cindy Woolf and guitarist Mark Bilyeu of The Creek Rocks bring Ozark ballads, traditional folksongs, and originals to the People’s Stage Saturday afternoon.

A two‑time Ozark jig dancing champion teaches the footwork, history, and Ozark feel of one of America’s oldest social dances.

Pull up a chair on the porch with Paw Paw, S. Juain Young’s grandfather-figure character: songs, stories, and reflection rooted in the Arkansas Delta.

Alison Lee and Pam Setser discuss the Committee of 100 and its evolving role in sustaining the Ozark Folk Center.

James Beard Award-winning author Crescent Dragonwagon on recipes as family heirlooms and food as the story of who we are.

Sangamitra Reshmy presents Bharatanatyam, the classical South Indian dance tradition, performed live on the festival floor.

Folksinger Willi Carlisle takes the main stage on the Saturday his new album Winged Victory releases, performing songs that hold tight to a single conviction: no one is expendable.

Master bladesmiths Jerry Fisk and Ricardo Vilar discuss the lineage and practice of knife-making in Arkansas.

Lisa Joyner of Leon’s Catfish celebrates three iconic Arkansas foods that transcend culturesheds and generations.

A community dance ensemble brings the bright costumes, intricate footwork, and centuries of Mexican folklórico tradition to the festival floor.

Northwest Arkansas’s most distinctive voice in contemporary country brings his ethereal croon, masterful whistle, and surreal songwriting to the festival main stage.

The second of two jig dancing workshops from Ozark Jig Champion Keith Symanowitz, building on the first or open to first‑timers who missed the morning session.

Travel back to Walnut Street, once the thriving center of Black businesses, culture, and community life in Helena, Arkansas. Community historian Phyllis Y. Hammonds will share photographs and stories highlighting the people and places that shaped this historic district, including pioneering theater owner Eliza Ross Miller, the first Black woman in Arkansas to own and operate a movie theater. Original Walnut Swingers George Flowers and Emmanuel Armstrong will also share personal memories and reflections, bringing this important Arkansas story to life for a new generation.

Pat Johnson of the Eddie Mae Herron Center and writer Meredith Martin-Moats discuss the long, patient work of building community through place, story, and shared tradition.

A spirited conversation about the origins, evolution, and enduring popularity of Arkansas’s most iconic dish.

Pete Howard’s string band plays. Willi Carlisle calls. The floor fills up. No experience required, just bring your feet.

Thomas Williams of Delta Dirt Distillery on the journey from Arkansas-grown sweet potatoes to award-winning spirits.

Little Rock guitarist Chris DeClerk and the Delta Soul Singers join forces on the festival main stage for a Saturday‑night set that runs straight through Arkansas blues, soul, and gospel.

The Grammy‑winning songwriter returns to Arkansas for an evening on the main stage with her full band, drawing on a catalogue that helped define American songwriting for a generation.

An interactive garden of heirloom plants, native crops, and the Arkansas growing traditions that have nourished communities for generations.

A community weaving project that invites festival-goers to add strips of reclaimed fabric to a growing 5x6 ft loom, building one collective artwork from many hands.

Create an individual quilt square for the inaugural Arkansas Folklife Quilt, a collaborative artwork stitching together stories from across the state.

A mobile recording studio and community archive capturing Arkansas voices during the America 250 commemoration. Step inside, share a story, write a letter to the future.

A textile canopy suspended overhead, stitched from fabrics representing communities across Arkansas: a quilted celebration of cultural diversity and mixed-ethnic heritage.

Hand-painted wooden cutouts of Arkansas people, places, foods, and traditions from across all six culturesheds, positioned at the festival entrance as a gateway into The People’s 250.

Joshua Youngblood, Associate Dean of Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries, presents the Arkansas Folksong Digital Archive.

A joyful Sunday afternoon of gospel music, fellowship, and a community picnic on the lawn (11 AM–3 PM), featuring an Olivia Trimble afghan installation in the community picnic park.

A conversation about connecting Arkansas farms and families through healthy, locally grown food.

An unaccompanied four-part American hymn tradition from a Northwest Arkansas shapenote singing group, rooted in the Sacred Harp lineage and open to anyone who wants to join the square.

Founded in Little Rock in 2004, S. Juain Young & Artists United is a multidisciplinary arts collective that uses theater, music, dance, and storytelling to inspire, educate, and build community. Under the leadership of S. Juain Young, the ensemble has spent more than two decades creating powerful performances that celebrate history, culture, and our shared humanity. From gospel to R&B, old school to new school, Artists United invites audiences into experiences that entertain, uplift, and inspire meaningful connection.

Author Janis F. Kearney shares her life story, from her childhood in the Arkansas Delta to serving as personal diarist to President Bill Clinton.

Susan Belsinger and Tina Marie Wilcox cook a mess of greens while exploring the cultural significance of one of the South’s most enduring comfort foods.

Three generations of an Mt. Olive family bring traditional Ozark folk, country, and Americana to the Sunday stage, just as they share with their congregation each week.

Rebecca Shipman Coffey and her band bring Ozark gospel, country, and folk to the People’s Stage Sunday afternoon.

Cory Winters and three Arkansas shape-note singers discuss the centuries-old practice of Sacred Harp singing in Arkansas.

Chef Nico Albert Williams prepares a traditional Three Sisters Stew, sharing Indigenous foodways, sustainability, and the relationship between people and the land.

A special tribute to Bishop Kenneth Robinson, whose decades of ministry, mentorship, and commitment to gospel music have profoundly shaped communities across Central Arkansas and beyond.

A Little Rock‑based vocal collective brings powerhouse, church‑infused harmonies that blend Delta gospel, soul, blues, and country‑soul into one unmistakable Arkansas sound.

Chy’Na Nellon, Agnolia Johnson, and Agnolia Gay gather in celebration of their late family member Georgia Hudson, a mentor in the AFTA Apprenticeship Program.

Arkansas gospel singer Chrissy P brings the church tradition into full voice on the People’s Stage.

An Arkansas gospel choir carries the harmonies, call-and-response, and unmistakable energy of the Black church tradition to the People’s Stage Sunday afternoon.

One final Arkansas singalong at White Water Tavern with Carolina Mendoza, Pete Masri, and Sad Daddy’s album release celebration. Ticketed event.