About New Haven Folk

New Haven Folk Inc. is the parent organization of the New Haven Folk Festival, successor to the Eli Whitney Folk Festival (1989-2002). A member of the North American Folk Music & Dance Alliance, New Haven Folk serves the entire folk community of Greater New Haven and south-central Connecticut, with challenging goals for promoting the enjoyment and development of American folk music in Connecticut. Contributions are tax-exempt because of the organization's 501(c)3 tax-exempt status.

The core belief of the all-volunteer New Haven Folk organization is that Americans need to rediscover and revere their own musical heritage. During most of the twentieth century, folk music was a dominant musical form. Many of us still recall the 1950s when the Weavers hit number one with "Kisses Sweeter than Wine" and the Kingston Trio did the same with "Tom Dooley", or remember a television schedule in the 1960s rich with folk music programming (Hootenanny, Shindig, The Smothers Brothers Show), or a time when Top 40 AM radio included Peter, Paul & Mary singing "Blowin' In the Wind" and "Lemon Tree". We also recall that the values expressed in and promoted by those songs contributed directly to the leap forward our country took in the areas of civil rights and feminism, and helped unite the people under the banners of peace and justice.

Now the entire folk category lately missing from many music store bins, Internet music listings, and the record club catalogs, is enjoying a nationwide resurgence. Because this is not just any musical category. It is the musical heritage of the nation, the emotional record of our history, the ultimate collection of "greatest hits" sung and adapted over and over again, by generation after generation of Americans young and old.

Now a new generation — typified by the likes of Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco and their youthful fans — is reaching out to rediscover folk music and to continue the singer/songwriter tradition. The purpose of New Haven Folk is to assist folk artists, fans, and venues in making the connections that will promote successful live folk events and folk music sales, to promote and bring to Connecticut the folk revival that is breaking out across the country. The new love for "unplugged" acoustic music and the intelligent, compassionate, progressive lyrics that typify folk are signs of that revival.

The success of the revived Eli Whitney Folk Festival on September 25, 1999 paved the way for the successful festivals that followed, along with a concert series that picks up where the series of the Greater New Haven Acoustic Music Society left off. Stay tuned for lots more great folk/acoustic entertainment!