A group of dancers from Puerto Rico will bring their colorful folk dance style to the 2013 International FolkFest.
Turkey’s Kandilli Anatolian High School for Girls will also send a troupe to participate in Middle Tennessee’s annual celebration of folk dance.
The International FolkFest, held June 9–16, will be exciting and educational for Murfreesboro and nearby communities. Sponsored by the International Folkloric Society, the FolkFest brings dancers from around the world to perform for schools and community groups.
IFS is a nonprofit organization based in Murfreesboro that is dedicated to promoting and preserving international cultural heritage with a primary focus on the arts. The organization brings the festival to Middle Tennessee every year, and helps spread Tennessee culture and history to other parts of the world as well.
This festival began in 1982 and ran annually through 1997. It was reintroduced to Murfreesboro in 2004, with hopes to educate Middle Tennessee on international culture and performing arts. Participants from many countries have visited the community during the festival over the years and performed music and dance.
This year, France, Turkey, Puerto Rico and the United States are some of the countries participating in the events.
From Turkey, a folk dance troupe from Kandilli Anatolian High School for Girls will be performing. The group practices a variety of dances, including Black Sea region dances, Horon dances from the Trabzon-Akçaabat region, Artvin region dances and Zeybek and Harmandalı dances.
Rutherford County’s own Cripple Creek Cloggers will be performing in the festival as well. This group has been traveling the world since 1979, performing Tennessee’s authentic Appalachian-style clogging.
2013 International FolkFest Schedule:
Monday, June 10
Williamson County Ag Expo Park
4210 Long Lane, Franklin
6:45 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12
Central Christian Church
404 East Main St., Murfreesboro
7 p.m.
Thursday, June 13
Dekalb County Community Center
715 S. Congress Blvd., Smithville
7 p.m. ($5, children free)
Friday, June 14
Patterson Park Community Center
521 Mercury Blvd., Murfreesboro
7 p.m. ($5)
Saturday, June 15
East side of the courthouse square, Murfreesboro
8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. (free)
Bell Buckle Banquet Hall
Bell Buckle
6 p.m.
The Cripple Creek Cloggers host the International FolkFest each year, and the group also does some globetrotting itself, spreading traditional dance from Tennessee all over the world.
For more information, visit mboro-international-folkfest.org.
