New Jersey Folk Festival

The New Jersey Folk Festival was founded in 1975 by Dr. Angus Gillespie, a professor in the Department of American Studies at Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Beginning with a small grant from Douglass College, Dr. Gillespie recruited students to help launch a public festival celebrating the folk cultures of New Jersey. Modelled on folk festivals like the National Folk Festival, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and the Kutztown Folk Festival, the New Jersey Folk Festival aimed to highlight the regional traditions and cultural diversity of the state.