81st Annual Holiday Folk Fair International

82nd Annual Holiday Folk Fair International Theme

Celebrate the Culture of Traditional Music

“Traditional Music” encompasses the melodies, lyrics, and instruments used to tell the stories of people within the world’s cultures. It is vital in preserving cultural identity, celebrating life’s moments, and educating others.

Traditional music is a tool for the expression of a culture and its beliefs, history, and values. For example, Irish traditional music describes the history of the country and its people. The lyrics of sean-nós singing speak of the struggles and triumphs of the Irish people, while the instruments of the fiddle, flute, accordion, and pipes express the energy and spirit of the land.

Native American traditional music and chants are used in everyday life, including in ceremonies, during work, in courtship, and as prayers. For example, the Inuit use songs while fishing to appease the spirits of whales, seals, and other food sources.

Finally, traditional music is used as a source of oral storytelling. African drums, for example, are used to tell stories. Many African communities have drumming patterns and rhythms that might recount the history of a tribe, celebrate important events, or pass down oral traditions and legends.

While the world exhibits a wide array of traditional music, sound is a universal form of human expression. Music is a common language that unites us all.

Our strength comes from celebrating similarities and differences. The Holiday Folk Fair International continues to build bridges among cultural communities, groups, and people. For 82 years, it has been a keeper of our world’s living heritage, safeguarding the past, honoring the present, and embracing the future. It provides an opportunity for cultures from all over the world to showcase their traditions, music, dress, and languages that are unique and meaningful to them, that call them together, and that celebrate their stories.

2025 Featured Food: Celebratory Cultural Foods

Food is social. In all areas of the world, humans use food as a tool to bond, socialize, and connect.

Foods and recipes passed down from generation to generation are about more than just nutrition; they are living links to cultural heritage and traditions. Food is symbolic of celebration and an integral part of any celebration in many cultures.

In China, food served at weddings has meaning. Main dishes include fish, chicken, and noodles. The Chinese word for fish sounds like the word for plentiful, so the serving of this dish wishes the couple abundance. Chicken is always served whole, with its head and feet, to represent a complete family and a fulfilling life. Noodles represent long life due to their long strands of noodles.
The Dutch give their new mothers a sweet and colorful treat after the birth of their child — biscuits with mice. The mice are sugar-covered seeds of aniseed, which are meant to symbolize fertility and help new moms with milk flow. The seeds are colored differently based on the gender of the baby: blue and white for boys and pink and white for girls. In addition, bringing any treats and celebrating a new child, grandchild, niece, or nephew at work or school is common in Holland.

For comfort after the loss of a loved one, Ukrainians serve kolache at celebrations of life. Kolache is a braided, round bread with a hole in the middle symbolizing eternity and the circle of life. The bottom layer of the cake is shared with mourners, while some other parts of the bread are saved, dried, or varnished for display in homes as memorials.

There’s nothing that brings people together like food. It’s the vessel that helps introduce people from different backgrounds and helps us understand one another.