Leeds Downtown Folk Festival and John Henry Celebration
 
Mark your calendars now! The third annual Leeds Downtown Folk Festival and John Henry Celebration will be September 18th and 19th.  The festival celebrates the roots, richness and variety of American culture. 
 
This festival will present seventy fine artisans showing, selling and demonstrating more than thirty mediums of art in a juried art show.  Our outdoor stage will host more than fifty musicians, many of which not only perform but also teach the rich history behind folk songs. Our farmer’s market provides fresh produce locally grown for convenient shopping and our folk café offers up a variety of  home cooking, including fried chicken, barbeque, potato salad, fried pickles, boiled peanuts and fried oreos. Children’s activities include arts and crafts projects to take home as momentos of the festival, educational programs and a performance by Marc Seymour, who brings and shares more than 100 drums with our budding young musicians. We also produce an original play depicting the life of Leeds legend, John Henry, "the Steel Drivin' Man". The play includes powerful performances of negro spirituals and "shouts", performed by local black choirs. More than 10,000 patrons of the arts will be welcomed into our historic downtown area for this event. If you are looking for a day loaded with art, performances, exhibitions, great food and fun, make plans to join us now - you may want to bring a folding char and stay all day! 
 
 Parking and admission is free.
 
You may visit our event website at www.leedsfolkfestival.com for schedules of performances and artisan demonstrations, applications and more.