NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

1/29/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-The Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern State University has received a grant of $8,533 from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The grant will fund narrative sessions at the Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival July 18-19 which will have the theme of "Contemporary Folk Traditions and the Legacy of the Louisiana Purchase."

"This grant will be a tremendous help to us in presenting the 2003 Natchitoches-NSU Folk Festival," said Dr. Lisa Abney, director of the Louisiana Folklife Center at Northwestern which presents the festival. "The narrative stages will focus on the cultures coming into this area during the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Many of the cultural groups present since the days of the Louisiana Purchase still maintain their traditional practices including foodways, music, oral narrative, family history, oral history, occupational traditions and religious traditions."

Among the planned narrative sessions are those which will focus on the area's British legacy, the Louisiana Purchase and how it impacted groups including Native Americans, Creoles and African-Americans, the work of artist Sarah Albritton and Creole and Cajun folktales and practices. Other planned sessions will focus on Natchitoches and its place in the Louisiana Purchase and the impact of the Louisiana Purchase on music as well as Louisiana's Literature and folk traditions. Planned sessions are subject to change.

This year's festival will feature a variety of music, arts and crafts, food and exhibits. Music ranging from country, traditional Anglo-Saxon-Irish, Cajun, zydeco, bluegrass, gospel, blues and rockabilly will be presented.

The Natchitoches/NSU Folk Festival has been recognized as a four-time winner of the prestigious "Top Twenty Events in the Southeast" Award given annually by the Southeast Tourism Society. The Festival was also selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress' Bicentennial Celebration: Local Legacies Project.

The New Orleans-based LEH, founded in 1971 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, receives its funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, state of Louisiana and private donations. Its statewide mission is to create greater economic and educational opportunities for Louisianians through child literacy projects; adult reading programs; summer teacher education institutes; public humanities and outreach grants; publishing, documentary film and radio grants; and community heritage tourism. It also publishes "Louisiana Cultural Vistas" magazine that explores the history, music, architecture, art and people of Louisiana.

For more information on this year's Natchitoches ­ NSU Folk Festival, call (318) 357-4332.

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