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	National Council for the Traditional Arts, 1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 200, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301) 565-0654; info@ncta.net
	Mainstreet Uptown Butte, P.O. Box 696, Butte, MT 59703; 406-497-6464; geverett@mainstreetbutte.org

How to Be a Performer Performing artists wishing to be considered for the National Folk Festival should submit audio (required) and video samples biographical information and press materials to: National Folk Festival Programming Committee c/o Mainstreet Uptown Butte P.O. Box 696 Butte, MT 59703 All materials received will be logged in, and will receive preliminary review to assess the quality, authenticity and appropriateness. Qualified submissions will be brought before the programming committee for further consideration. No materials will be returned. Artists will not be contacted unless the festival is interested in pursuing festival performance possibilities. It is the policy of the National Folk Festival to present an entirely new festival each year, with no repetition of artists. After the local programming committee reviews and recommends performers to the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the professional staff of the NCTA will make selections based on the highest standards of quality and representation of the cultural traditions represented by the various performers. The National Folk Festival is what it says it is -- a national festival. The NCTA, which has organized the festival since 1933, gets some 1,100 applications and inquiries from musicians and their agents every year. Beyond this, it solicits information about outstanding folk artists from state folklorists, ethnomusicologists, and other cultural specialists seriously engaged with grassroots cultures. The NCTA staff is composed of persons who are trained in music, history and folklore, have many years of experience in organizing and staging festivals, and most are also musicians (though they do not perform at the festival). This staff attends other festivals and events, and many concerts every year, and does original fieldwork in seeking musicians and crafts people. Every recording and video and every bio sent to the festival is seen, heard, and carefully considered. Many hundred of hours are invested in this work, and no single person makes the decisions. Quality and authenticity are the primary selection criteria employed by those who sort the applications and sit on the Programming Committee. As regards authenticity, the festival's approach to programming focuses on presenting arts passed down through time in families, communities, tribal, ethnic, religious, regional and occupational groups. We present artists who are firmly rooted in the community from which their music derives, rather than "interpreters" of tradition, such as contemporary singer-songwriters or "revivalist" performance groups, however accomplished they may be. Beyond that, there is an attempt to be inclusive in terms of race, ethnicity, and region. While the festival strives to include artists that reflect traditions associated with the host community and region, all applicants are held to the same standards. Of course, any festival with just 24 performing groups cannot be fully representative of the vast variety of folk artistry in the nation every year. But over the years, this event has dealt with the regions and cultures of the nation with fairness. Finally, any event that deals with applications and solicitations from upwards of 1,100 performing groups and selects 24 is certain to decline several hundred very fine groups. Those who organize the festival regret this, and solicit understanding and goodwill from all who choose to involve themselves in this process.

The National Folk Festival showcases some of the finest talent in the country in the area of traditional music and dance. What kinds of music can you expect at the National Folk Festival? To name a few styles: Blues, Bluegrass,Rockabilly, Carribean, Klezmer, Jazz, Cowboy, Polka, Cajun, Tamburitza, Old-Time, Mariachi, Western Swing, Honky-Tonk, Rhythm and Blues, Zydeco, Native American, African, Middle Eastern, Asian, Appalachian, Hispanic, Eastern European, Celtic and Pacific Islander.For more details, about the entertainment at the National Folk Festival in Butte, Montana on July 11-13, 2008, send email to geverett@mainstreetbutte.org.

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