Texas Folklife Festival

Texas Folklife Festival

Early June

Often described as "the largest block party in Texas," the Texas Folklife Festival was founded in 1972 by O. T. Baker, exhibits manager at the Institute of Texan Cultures, as a celebration of the state's ethnic cultures and pioneer heritage. There are demonstrations of the crafts, work skills, costumes, foods, and customs of about 40 different ethnic groups living in Texas today. Visitors can learn how to make a cowhide chair, for example, or the proper way to pickle olives. There have been lessons in Swiss yodeling, splitting shingles, and blacksmithing, as well as musical performances by German oompah bands, Czech accordionists, and Dutch singers. The four-day festival is sponsored by the Institute of Texan Cultures and is held at HemisFair Park in downtown San Antonio.

CONTACTS:
UTSA's Institute of Texan Cultures
801 S. Bowie St.
San Antonio, TX 78205
210-458-2330; fax: 210-458-2205
www.texancultures.utsa.edu

SOURCES:
GdUSFest-1984, p. 187
MusFestAmer-1990, p. 229