![[Festival images]](images/m1_2007.jpg)
Schedule Available
Start planning your day at the Folk Festival now! We've put our subject-to-change schedule on line. Once again, there are lots of choices every hour: four performances, five music workshops, two dance workshops, two jams, story telling, and the children's tent...not to mention checking out the vendors, enjoying the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, grabbing some food from our food vendors, and hanging with friends!
What's Happening at the Festival
There are big changes afoot for this year's Festival. We're changing the weekend, the location, the format, and the prices! Keep reading!
New Date
The 2012 Festival will be held on the first weekend in June instead of the third weekend. This avoids conflicts with other events and enables us to be the kickoff event of Albuquerque's summer music season. So be sure to reserve June 1st and 2nd for the full Folk Festival experience.
New Location
We are moving the Festival from Expo to the Albuquerque Balloon Museum (two blocks south, but totally separate from the Balloon Fiesta Park).
New Format
The 2012 Festival will be a CAMPING EVENT and, therefore, a DESTINATION FESTIVAL for attendees from beyond Albuquerque and the Southwest. This will also enhance the PARTICIPATORY nature of our Festival as reflected in our mission statement.
The 2012 Festival will be reduced from two days to ONE day, but it will actually be a WEEKEND EVENT by including camping and campground jamming. The official Festival will be all day Saturday, June 2, at the Balloon Museum but camping will extend from Friday at 3:00 pm until Sunday at 2:00 pm. Headliner band(s) will be expected to commit to a Friday evening "jam with the band" in the campground. For more information about the camping, including a few rules, check here.
Festival connects with Joy Junction
This year we want to take our community involvement a step further. We will be partnering with Joy Junction to provide much needed food items. We all want to be able to make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves and give back to our community, so we are asking that when you come to the festival you bring non-perishable food items to donate to Joy Junction. In return, we will give you $1 off of your ticket price. We urge our big-hearted fans to give generously to Joy Junction and give those in our city a helping hand.
Please note: The $1 discount is not available for tickets purchased in advance, though we encourage you to bring a donation anyway!
For more on how to donate time, money, food or clothes to Joy Junction, see their website: www.joyjunction.org.
Planet Music
New at the Festival this year (but similar to the Petting Zoo from previous years) is Planet Music. Hosted by composer/musician Casey Mráz, Planet Music is an interactive display of playable musical instruments of all varieties from all around the globe! The varieties of musical instruments include stringed instruments, reed instruments and percussion instruments. Planet Music has been featured at Globalquerque at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, beginning in 2009.
Giant Puppets!
Sunny Birklund and the Puppet Playhouse bring fun family entertainment for kids of all ages to the Folk Festival this year. Be on the lookout as their giant puppets make their way around the festival. You and your family and friends are invited to chat with the giant puppets and ask questions, shake hands, share hugs and take photos with silly poses. Let children who aren't quite ready be introduced from the distance and approach when they are confident. The puppets will be strolling the festival grounds from 10 am to 12 pm. Don't miss them!
Festival deal on RV rental
Want to camp out and jam on Friday and Saturday nights, but don't want to pitch a tent and sleep on the ground? Do you like the idea of hanging with folk festival friends, but don't want to give up the comforts of home? The Folk Festival has arranged for a 15% discount for a weekend RV rental from El Monte RV. Located just two miles from the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, El Monte has different size RVs available, with refrigerators, stoves, showers...everything you need to have a comfortable weekend. Just ask for the discount when you make your reservation.
Get your instruments out of the closet!
A closet instrument is a musical instrument nobody plays. It sits in the closet year after year while an aspiring musician longs for an instrument to play.
Help the festival and help other musicians by donating your closet instruments. We'll do our best to get those instruments into hands that will use them!
Volunteers wanted!
Want to help out with the festival? With all of the changes that we're planning, we need your help more than ever! We are a completely volunteer organization. If you enjoy the festival and want to support what we are trying to do for the folk music, folk arts and dance community of Albuquerque, come join us! For further information and to get on our distribution list, email .
Donations wanted!
The festival is a labor of love...but we still have expenses. Any amount will help us make this the best AFF ever! The Albuquerque Folk Festival is a 501(c)(3) organization, so your contributions are fully tax-deductible. Please visit our Donations page to see how you can help the festival.
Thanks to all our sponsors and volunteers!
Thanks to all our volunteers who are helping put on this community gathering. Whether you are a performer, a workshop teacher, a dance demonstrator, a tireless volunteer, an active participant or a fascinated viewer, we thank you all. We couldn't have this successful event if it were not for every one of you and the part you play in making a community event like this come to fruition.
This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs and a grant from the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund of the City of Albuquerque. We also offer our heartfelt thanks to Mayor Richard Berry and the City of Albuquerque and NMArts for their support, and many more that you can find on our Supporters page.