The Texas Folklife Festival is an annual event sponsored by the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the Education in San Antonio, largest universi ...

Institute of Texan Cultures The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) is a museum and library located in the Texas Pavilion at HemisFair Park in Downtown San Antonio, Texas. The building which houses the institute a striking example of B ...

celebrating the many ethnicities represented in the population of the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. The first Texas Folklife Festival was held from September 7–10, 1972. The event moved to August a few years after it began and then to June a few years later to avoid the hottest part of summer in Texas. The Festival is held in

Downtown San Antonio Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It also serves as the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people. In addition to being encircled by Loops 1604 ...

at the Institute of Texan Cultures on UTSA's HemisFair Park Campus, located at the corner of Bowie Street and Cesar Chavez Boulevard, just off Interstate 37 South. The Texas Folklife Festival was modeled after the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which was first held in

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in 1967. On behalf of the Institute of Texan Cultures (which was built as the Texas Pavilion for

HemisFair '68 HemisFair '68 was the official 1968 World's Fair (or International Exposition) held in San Antonio, Texas, from April 6 through October 6, 1968. Local businessman and civic leader, Jerome K. Harris Sr., coined the name HemisFair and conceived the ...

, the 1968 World’s Fair), O.T. Baker attended the first Smithsonian Folklife Festival and returned home with plans to replicate the event in San Antonio. Now, thousands attend the three-day event each year, which features food, crafts, music and dances from ethnic groups that immigrated to Texas. Some of the proceeds from the event are given back to the participating cultures so their customs would continue to stay alive and be passed on to

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...

. The event’s focus also directly correlates to the mission of the Institute of Texan Cultures. Claudia Ball took over from O. T. Baker as festival director in 1976 and served in that capacity through 1980. Jo Ann Andera became festival director in 1981 and continues to serve in that capacity. O.T. Baker (1910-2006), the Festival’s founder and director from 1972–75, died on January 21, 2006.

Gallery

File:Texas folklife festival chinese2 2013.jpg, San Antonio Lion Dance Association File:Texas folklife festival folklorico 2013.jpg, Ballet Folklorico File:Texas folklife festival german2 2013.jpg, German Folkdancers of San Antonio File:Texas folklife festival lebanese2 2013.jpg, Lebanese Folk Dancers of St. George Maronite Catholic Church File:Texas folklife festival south 2013.jpg, South Texas Gunfighters File:Texas folklife festival kabobs 2013.jpg, Shish-kabobs File:Texas folklife festival vendor 2013.jpg, Vendor booths

References

External links

Texas Folklife Festival website

Some pictures at Texas Folklife Festival 2010

University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) The University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries (UTSA Libraries) is the academic library of The University of Texas at San Antonio, a state research university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. UTSA Libraries consists of the John Peace Librar ...

Special Collections. {{San Antonio Festivals in San Antonio Texas culture Folk festivals in the United States

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See also

References

External links