The Tucson Folk Festival is a FREE, two-day event celebrating Americana/Folk Music traditions and all the wonderful variations, including American bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, Celtic, zydeco, and various styles of Latin and Mexican music! This annual family-friendly festival is held in some of the most historic sections of downtown Tucson: Jacome Plaza, La Cocina and Presidio Museum. This festival features five stages of acoustic music in traditional, contemporary, and ethnic genres to entertain and delight a multi-faceted and diverse audience. The festival attracts over 12,000 fans and participants who come from all over Southern Arizona, and across the nation. The festival features a national headliner (Saturday night) and local headliner (Sunday night), as well as, Children’s Show headliner. Over 120 acts perform at the festival. This festival also features the Stefan George Memorial Songwriting Competition, the Roger Mikulas Young Artist Showcase for youth under 18 (now both days), interactive music workshops, the Ballad Tree for future songwriters (open mic), raffles, food and craft vendors, and a beer garden. Over 200 volunteers support the success of this festival.
Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association
Tucson Kitchen Musicians Association (TKMA) began as a group of friends gathering regularly on Friday nights for potlucks and jammin’ in the kitchen. Over the years, TKMA has grown into an all-volunteer operated 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (Tax Exempt No. 86-0514808). TKMA was established 1986, to further public awareness and interest in acoustic music and other folk arts by promoting and producing the annual Tucson Folk Festival; one of the oldest FREE folk music festivals in the country! It is very important to us that we offer an inclusive festival experience promoting community accessibility to all! TKMA would like you to know that your support as a sponsor, community partner, advertiser, donor and/or giving of your time as a volunteer enables us to produce and promote current and future Tucson Folk Festivals, and we are very grateful for your support!
Use of Resources
Tucson Folk Festival partnerships, sponsorships, advertising and donations enable TKMA to produce and promote current and future Tucson Folk Festivals and fundraisers held throughout the year. Opportunities to participate with other organizations in the community promotes reciprocity of resources, and nurtures relationships. And, we value the relationships we’ve built within the Tucson community; strengthened through each year’s Tucson Folk Festival and the various TKMA events held throughout the year. We look forward to enhancing these relationships, as well as, cultivating new ones throughout the year.
TKMA and the Tucson Folk Festival are volunteer-run endeavors relying on the hard work and generous donations of supporters, volunteers, the community and the TKMA Board of Directors and Staff. All proceeds and funds acquired by TKMA are allocated to the promotion and production of the Tucson Folk Festival.
FREE to the public since its beginning in 1986, the Festival is held the first weekend of May, and is one of the loveliest events on the Tucson calendar.
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