About the Festival

The Kutztown Folk Festival

The Kutztown Folk Festival is the oldest continuously operated folklife festival in America. This eight-day event continues to draw visitors from all over the world, entertaining families while providing valuable insight into the traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch and their fascinating way of life. Children's activities abound and admission is free for children 12 and under. The festival also houses the largest quilt sale in America and has an internationally attended Quilt Auction of top prize-winning quilts.

A Unique Visitor Experience

At the Kutztown Folk Festival, a visitor experiences more music, more entertainment, more fun, and far less work than they would in a Pennsylvania Dutch household. But the purpose of the festival is still fulfilled, as evidenced by the continued participation of the local Pennsylvania Dutch community as well as many of the foremost experts and scholars of this fascinating microcosm of America. This unusual nine-day festival had been featured twice in National Geographic and has been called "one of the most unique festivals on the East coast" by the Washington Post, with good reason. For the past three years, our Festival was awarded in the top 3 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice for Best Cultural Festival in North America.

Festival History

In the summer of 1950, three of America's leading folklorists presented the first Kutztown Folk Festival using a unique hands-on approach that let "outsiders" experience firsthand what it means to be part of a Pennsylvania Dutch family. Key to the event's success was the ability of the festival's "founding fathers" to organize the area's local citizens and coordinate their participation in the festival. These were not actors, but actual Pennsylvania Dutch natives demonstrating their everyday way of life.

Please read Kutztown Folk Festival: America’s Oldest Folklife Celebration for more history on our Festival.

Generation to Generation

Nearly 25,000 people descended on Kutztown that first year. What started as a four-day showcase during the Fourth of July week quickly grew to nine days drawing well over 130,000 attendees. Multiple generations of the same families continue to present and participate at the festival; likewise, many generations of attendees visit the festival each year.

Fun, Food & Pageantry

Today, one can still find traditional craftsmen at the festival demonstrating the skills and tools that helped build this great country. Farming and folklife demonstrations abound throughout the grounds. The phrase "eat till ya ouch" still has great meaning as fabulous Pennsylvania Dutch food continues to tempt visitors. The sounds of square dancing jiggers and folk music fill the air, while children try their hand at many of the activities geared just to them. Of course, the pageantry and symbols of Pennsylvania Dutch culture such as quilts and barn stars still catch the eye of all who attend.