All the world’s a stage

Folkmoot USA fits so perfectly into the landscape of Western North Carolina that its supporters are hardly surprised that the international dance and music festival will celebrate its 25th year in 2008.

“This festival speaks to the traditions that are important to this mountain region,” said Scott McLeod, a long-time volunteer and president of the Folkmoot Board of Directors. “We value heritage and tradition, and that is exactly what Folkmoot is all about.” 

Folkmoot USA is an annual two-week festival based in Waynesville, N.C., that brings in about 10 folk dance groups who perform throughout the southwestern part of the state. All of the dancers, musicians and group directors are housed in the Folkmoot Friendship Center, a former elementary school in Waynesville that is converted into a dorm-like international hostel for the festival. The performers are not paid to be in the festival but instead travel to similar festivals throughout the world on their own dime to share their traditions and culture through dance and music.

“Just as we use music, dance and crafts to hold onto mountain heritage, so do these groups,” said McLeod. “Their costumes, their instruments and the stories told through their dances are important links to the culture of their ancestors.”

While the diversity of Folkmoot has helped it garner numerous honors — it is North Carolina’s official International Festival and has been named a Top 20 event for more than 18 years by the Southeastern Tourism Association — at its heart, the festival is about spirited performances and having a good time.

Each international group at Folkmoot is assigned two guides, usually college-aged youths who spend 24 hours a day during the festival doing everything from getting the groups to performances on time to finding replacement parts for unusual musical instruments.

Anna Stringfield, who grew up in Waynesville and is a rising sophomore at Davidson, has been a guide for two years.

“It was fun because I felt as if I had traveled for two weeks,” Stringfield said. “I would forget that I was in Waynesville still, and it was nice being able to escape but still be here. It was also fun seeing the mountains from a tourist’s perspective. Going rafting, going to places in Asheville — it made me really appreciate where I live. It was also great learning first-hand about other cultures. It’s complete immersion for two weeks.”

While the guides have fun, it’s also work, from early morning to late night — sometimes all night.

“Some days, we would have to get up around 8 a.m. and load the buses to go to a venue,” said Stringfield. “We’d perform around lunch time, eat lunch there, hang out a little, then pile back on and get back on the bus only to book it to the next show. After the nighttime performance, we’d all head back to the (Folkmoot Friendship Center) and have a late-nighter. Bedtime (if they went to sleep) was usually around 4 a.m. or so. You’re on a high for two weeks, so sleep doesn’t really matter.”

The festival is a catalyst for foreign exchange, both formal and informal. Dr. Chris Wenzel, a surgeon in Waynesville, met his future wife while she was visiting from Romania and he was a guide. That was more than 10 years ago. Two years ago the festival hosted groups from New Zealand and Venezuela, among others. Earlier this year a wedding in New Zealand cemented a courtship that started during Folkmoot.

“My Canadian group would dress me up in their costumes and my German group even included me in one of their performances,” said Stringfield. “I was really shocked at how open they all were and how friendly they were to a stranger like me.

Waynesville, which is home to the festival, lines its Main Street with international flags every day during the two weeks of Folkmoot. Groups of dancers frequent downtown shops, galleries and restaurants, giving the small town an international flare. The two biggest days of Folkmoot — the Parade of Nations (July 18) and International Festival Day (July 26) — attract more than 20,000 people each day, with plenty of opportunities to see shorter, free performances by the groups.

The festival is the brainchild of the late Dr. Clinton Border, a Waynesville surgeon who accompanied a square dance team to England in 1973 for an international folk festival. He thought the mountain region’s dedication to preserving its own heritage was similar to the love these groups showed for their cultures. Over the next few years, he began discussing with community leaders the idea of starting a festival in Waynesville while he traveled to similar events throughout Europe to gather more information.

In 1983, Border and other Haywood County leaders launched Folkmoot USA, and the first festival was held in 1984 in conjunction with the state’s 400th birthday celebration. Since then more than 200 groups from more than 100 countries have participated.

“Folkmoot is one of those events you get involved with because you think its fun, and before you know it you’re on the board and moving up the rungs toward a leadership position,” said McLeod. “It’s just a great event.”