The New Jersey Folk Festival (NJFF) is an annual folk music and cultural festival held during Rutgers Day at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
The 50th New Jersey Folk Festival was held on August 23, 2025, at Davidson's Mill Pond Park in North Brunswick, New Jersey after the original event in April was postponed due to weather concerns. The festival celebrated its 50th anniversary and selected the Garden State's history, music, traditions, and culture.
The 51st annual New Jersey Folk Festival was held on August 29, 2026, at Davidson's Mill Pond Park as well. The event included four stages of music and dance performances, along with folklife and gardening demonstrations, artisans, food vendors, and children's activities.
The theme of the 2025 NJFF was: "50th Anniversary—Celebrating New Jersey."
Background The NJFF is a free, non-profit, family event held every year on the last Saturday in April from 10am to 4pm, rain or shine. It coincides with Rutgers Agricultural Field Day, held on the adjacent Cook Campus as part of Rutgers Day. Traditionally held on the Great Lawn at the Wood Lawn mansion, home to the Eagleton Institute of Politics, in 2024 it moved to the lawn in the vicinity of the Passion Puddle.
Established in 1975, the New Jersey Folk Festival is the oldest continuously run folk festival in the State of New Jersey and believed to be one of the oldest festivals of its type in the United States. The festival attracts over 10,000 people and is one of the City of New Brunswick's largest regularly scheduled events. The NJFF is also one of the largest, outdoor annual cultural events in the state of New Jersey.
Typically, the event features stages and tents of music, dance, and workshops, a children's activities area,food choices, a folk marketplace, and a heritage area which offers a close-up look at each year's cultural or geographical theme or other appropriate exhibits.
The 2025 festival is being organized and sponsored by the executive board of the New Jersey Folk Festival Inc., in a partnership with the Rutgers University Collaborative Center for Community Engagement, led by Brian Patrick Kurisky. The New Jersey Folk Festival Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the State of New Jersey exempt from federal taxation.
History and mission The mission of the New Jersey Folk Festival is to preserve and protect the music, culture, and arts of New Jersey. Therefore, the main focus of this festival is the traditional music, crafts, and foods of the diverse ethnic and cultural communities within the state and its surrounding region.
Each year the festival strives for diversity in selecting performers, not only seeking out traditional "American" artists, but also reaching out via fieldwork to the many ethnic communities found within New Jersey. The annual ethnic or regional feature contributes an essential intimate connection to these varied cultural groups represented in the state's population.
The New Jersey Folk Festival is professionally supervised by Maria Kennedy and co-directors Carla Cevasco and Matt Hueston. It was founded by Angus Kress Gillespie. Each year also sees a Student Intern Team in positions including Stage Management, Outreach, Communications, Logistics, Curatorial Programs, Artists Relations, and more.
The following essays provide more information about the festival and its history:About the Festival http://www.njfolkfest.rutgers.edu/about.html The Founding of the New Jersey Folk Festival by Angus Kress Gillespie Beyond the Ivory Tower by Angus Kress Gillespie Managing the New Jersey Folk Festival by Bill Seldon
A student-run event
This festival is the product of a class intended, in part, to provide students with leadership opportunities. The festival is one of only a handful in the United States managed by undergraduate students. Collectively, the staff is responsible for continuing the festival's mission of celebrating the diverse multicultural and indigenous folk life of New Jersey.
In 1975, when the festival first began, only two students were involved in its organization and management. Today, about ten students serve on the planning committee. Alumni of the festival also serve as advisors to the committee.
The class meets for three hours once a week under the direction of faculty advisor Maria Kennedy. During the first half of the class, there is academic instruction in which the students learn about folklore, including the distinction between "traditional" versus "revival" folk music, theoretical problems associated with publicly presenting ethnic culture, the history and aesthetic sensibilities of the craft presenters and performers, as well as more practical instruction in how to write press releases or conduct radio interviews. The second half of the class functions as a business meeting led by the festival manager, complete with progress reports from coordinators, "breakaway" management teamwork sessions, and problem-solving.
The student coordinators form a closely knit team, where they develop leadership and management skills, written and verbal communication, organization, personal assertiveness, and time management. The class is part of the curriculum of the American Studies Department of Rutgers.
Festival areas
The Angus Gillespie Stage This is the main stage for various musical performances throughout the day.
Jam Tent This will be an informal venue for musicians to gather and share information on their instruments, performing, and song writing.
Speaker Tent Also known as the "Seminar Tent," this will be a venue for scholars to discuss educational programs related to the mission of the folk festival.
Heritage Area The Heritage Area showcases crafters doing live demonstrations of their craft techniques and knowledge of materials, design and craft history, as well as how and where they market their creations.
Craft Market The Craft Market consists of vendors and skilled craftspeople throughout New Jersey and beyond. The focus of the craft market is on traditional folk art crafts. The work of each vendor has been pre-screened for top-notch quality. Crafts include jewelry, woodwork, pottery, glassware, ceramics, and clothing.
Food Services Rutgers University will manage food services and food distribution at the folk festival.
Children's Activities Area The Children's Activities Area offers a wide variety of free activities including games, crafts, face painting, take-home crafts, and pie-eating contests.
Folk Marketplace At Folk Marketplace, personnel can answer general inquiries about the festival. Performance schedules and merchandise are available.
Festival logo The Jersey Devil serves as the official logo of the New Jersey Folk Festival. However, every year, a new logo embodying the current year's festival highlight is designed and used.
Original logo The original festival logo was the rooster. Back in 1975, the festival was managed by three people; Angus Kress Gillespie as the director, Kathy DeAngelo as the music coordinator, and Barbara Irwin as the crafts coordinator. When choosing a logo, the original committee turned to the folk art collection of the Newark Museum of Art. There they found the cock weather vane made of copper in 19th century rural New Jersey. They felt that this rooster served as a fine symbol of the folk culture found in New Jersey in earlier days.
Erwin Christensen in The Index of American Design explains that the rooster is probably the earliest weathervane design in the United States. This preference may be explained by the widespread use of this symbol on church steeples in Europe. According to tradition, the cock owed its place on church spires to Peter's denial of Christ. Hence, it served as a warning to the congregation not to do the same. In the Bayeux Tapestry of the 1070s, originally of the Bayeux Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux) and now exhibited at Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, there is a depiction of a man installing a cock on Westminster Abbey. Also, it is reputed through Papal enactment that in the 9th century Pope Nicholas IHow the Chicken Conquered the World - By Jerry Adler and Andrew Lawler - Smithsonian magazine, June 2012 ordered the figure to be placed on every church steepleThe Philadelphia Museum bulletin, Volumes 1-5 - By Pennsylvania Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art - p 14 - 1906 and even previous to that Pope Leo IV had it placed on the Old St. Peter's Basilica or old Constantinian basilicaST PETER'S BASILICA.ORG - Providing information on St. Peter's Basilica and Square in the Vatican City - The Treasury Museum even before Nicholas I was Pope.
Previous festival highlights 2026 - 51st Anniversary 2025 - 50th Anniversary - Celebrating New Jersey 2024 – Garden State: Cultures of Cultivation 2023 – New Directions in Folk 2022 – On the Move: Transportation and Migration 2021 – Oaxaca 2020 – Oaxaca 2019 – Best of the past 4 years (45th Annual) 2018 – Native Americans of New Jersey 2017 – Turkish Traditions 2016 – Bluegrass Showcase 2015 – Maritime 2014 – 40th Anniversary 2013 – Garifuna Folk Culture 2012 – Bulgarian Folk Culture 2011 – Kalmyk Folk Culture 2010 – The Andes 2009 – 35th Anniversary Celebration 2008 – German-American Traditions 2007 – Dominican-American Traditions 2006 – Charm of Korea 2005 – Norwegian-American Traditions 2004 – 30th Anniversary Celebration 2003 – Mexican-American Traditions 2002 – Blues & Gospel 2001 – Portuguese-American Traditions 2000 – Women in Folk 1999 – Silver Jubilee Celebration 1998 – Chinese-American Traditions 1997 – India 1996 – South Jersey 1995 – Puerto Rico 1994 – 20th Anniversary Celebration 1993 – Lebanon 1992 – American Indians 1991 – Haiti 1990 – Greece 1989 – Ireland 1988 – Sweden 1987 – Philippines 1986 – Italy 1985 – Scottish Traditions in America 1984 – Cuban Ties 1983 – Hungarian-Americans 1982 – Holland-American Culture 1981 – 200 Years of NJ Agriculture 1980 – New Brunswick Folklore 1979 – Folk Heritage 1978 – Folk Heritage 1977 – Folk Heritage 1976 – Folk Heritage 1975 – Folk Heritage
Online essays, news articles The following links provide information on the history of the New Jersey Folk Festival:
"The Legend of the New Jersey Folk Festival" - Rutgers Today "Professor's legacy lies with folk festival tradition" - The Daily Targum "New Jersey Folk Festival Leans Towards South America" - nj.com "New Jersey Folk Festival Bridges Tradition and Innovation" - New Jersey Stage "New Jersey Folk Festival has been building students’ skills for 40 years" - My Central Jersey "Angus Gillespie bids farewell as director of the NJ Folk Festival in New Brunswick" - Asbury Park Press
Further reading
Gabriele, Michael C. New Jersey Folk Revival Music: History & Tradition (The History Press, 2016).
References
External links Official New Jersey Folk Festival Website