New York Folklore

This weekend, upstate New York's Karen community will gather for their Traditional Wrist Tying Ceremony! We wish them a safe and joyful celebration!

Join our friends in Albany this weekend!

We’d like to invite everyone to our Block Party this Saturday 12-4pm!!!!

There’s going to be:
Tons of yummy and FREE food 🍔 (everything will be halal ❤️)
GAMES for the kids and families 🎟️
And MUSIC for the whole block to enjoy 🎶

Thanks to Love Your Block for making this possible, see everyone there!

Due to inclement weather, this evening's Metku Concert in Centerway Square has been RESCHEDULED. ⁠
⁠
Stay tuned - new date and time TBA.

New York Folklore is seeking folk artists to vend at our 80th Birthday Bash. September, 21st in Schenectady, NY. There is no fee to vend! If you are interested in participating in our Folk Artist marketplace please apply on our website!

New York Folklore's Birthday Bash! - New York Folklore Join New York Folklore for its 80th Birthday Celebration to take place in Downtown Schenectady’s Jay Square, located conveniently on Jay Street across from City Hall. There will be music […]

Be sure to stop by Jay Street Marketplace to see New York Folklore Friend, Quill Harrison's show at Bear and Bird Boutique + Gallery New York!

Lots of great events happening in the Finger Lakes this summer!

The Finger Lakes Choral Festival presents "St Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass," by Glenn McClure and "Misa Criolla," by Ariel Ramirez, Sunday, July 28, 2024, 4:00 P.M. at the Hochstein Performance Hall, 50 Plymouth Avenue North, Rochester, NY, 14614. The performance is free of charge. Donations of food, clothing, and personal care items accepted at the door benefit Action for a Better Community.
Ramirez's folk mass, sung in Spanish, features Andean rhythms and traditional instruments. The Panloco Steel Drum Ensemble accompanies McClure's Caribbean Mass. Joining the chorus as featured soloists are Pablo Willey-Bustos, tenor, and Alicia Barry, mezzo soprano. Ines Draskovic accompanies on piano, and festival Artistic Director Eric Townell conducts.
The Finger Lakes Choral Festival, founded 2003, welcomes all singers with choral experience to join in performing great music each summer. Find details at our website: www.fingerlakeschoral.org.
FLCF gratefully acknowledges major support from WEGMANS for the 2024 festival.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of The Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts.

On the blog now! Recognizing and Celebrating Schenectady's Guyanese and Caribbean Heritages with Schenectady's newest mural and the people who made it come to life!

Artmon3y Schenectady County Job Training Agency Schenectady Caribbean Day Schenectady County Golden Paints

Recognizing and Celebrating Schenectady's Guyanese and Caribbean Heritages - New York Folklore Today, I exited off the Michigan Avenue Exit ramp of Schenectady’s I-890, and smiled. Looming in front of me was the mural that was created at the end of June […]

Congratulations to Los Herederos on the opening of their new space!

🎈WE HAVE BIG NEWS 🎈

You may have heard the rumblings…and it’s true!

Los Herederos is opening its first community space in the 74th Street-Roosevelt Ave-Jackson Heights subway station as part of a new artist marketing opportunity with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority - MTA. We are rehabilitating a 600 SQF former retail unit located on the lower mezzanine of the station, to serve as BOTH a community gallery and a home for the Sonicycle and LH Radio! Its role as the borough’s major transportation hub with proximity to LaGuardia airport, offers a chance to include those coming/going throughout their day in our programming & to curate content that celebrates the singular yet multifaceted ethos of what it means to be from/make Queens home.

Access to space in our neighborhoods is at a premium these days, and we are looking forward to an era of increased
capacity to serve YOU, our .

Our inaugural exhibition, Queens as Cultural Crossroads shares materials from our multivocal and multilingual Diversity Plaza collection via multiple mediums and media formats. The proximity of our space to Diversity Plaza is no accident. Rather it’s part of our effort to fully integrate the project into the cultural ecosystem of the Plaza, draw attention to the physical needs of the place, & highlight the creative industry’s connections to community sustainability.

Artwork Juan Pablo Varela

Thank you to everyone who joined us to enjoy last night's celebration of "Celebrate Caribbean Culture" by Rae Fraiser Divena Ramessar, Beautiful Turner, Precise Felton and Austin Adam. More pictures coming soon!

Join us for a celebration of Schenectady's newest mural, tomorrow at 5pm!

On Tuesday night’s program we aired our first interview by our summer youth employees Jalaya and Elijah. They were interested to learn more about the Collard City Growers garden and interviewed A’livija and Sina.

Other stories on Tuesday were:

-Mark Dunlea reports on Sheridan Hollow residents coming out during a heat wave to call for NY to shut down its power plant.

-Schenectady has a new mural celebrating Caribbean culture, and Brea Barthel brings us the scoop with .

-Brad Monkell invited comedian Blake Whitbeck to the studio

-and Thom Francis highlights poets Frank Robinson & Therese Broderick from the 2024 Word Fest.

Image: the summer youth employees interview A’livija Mullins-Richard in the CCG garden with Jalaya wearing the headphone and holding the mic as Elijah stands by.

Join New York Folklore and local artists Veena Chandra, Devesh Chandra, and Lalita Ramnauth when they perform at Music Haven's Alfresco Film and Event Series on August 23rd!

34th annual Music Haven Concert Series in Schenectady 34th annual Music Haven Concert Series in Schenectady

What a great group of young artists! We are proud to be working with them on this National Endowment for the Arts sponsored project, featuring the work of artist Rae' Frasier!

GOOD MORNING! Did you have wonderful ✨DREAMS✨ last night of ArtsWeek fun?

Well, dreams (or more specifically, SACRED DREAM CIRCLES) are part of the special exhibit at New York Folklore going on now! Dream Circles vary in size from three feet to fifteen feet. They are created using traditional techniques such as weaving, leatherwork, metalwork and knotwork. The Sacred Dream Circles are presented as an art form as well as an energetic healing medium to facilitate meditation. Stop by the Gallery between 10am-3:30pm to check it out for yourself!

For the 40th annual New York Folk Arts Roundtable, New York Folklore brought the Roundtable to our neighborhood in Schenectady, NY. For this milestone we were joined by one of our largest cohorts ever! check out the recap, on the blog now!

The 40th Annual Folk Arts Roundtable - New York Folklore For the 40th annual New York Folk Arts Roundtable, New York Folklore brought the Roundtable to our neighborhood in Schenectady, NY. For this big milestone we were joined by one […]

We are honored to have NEA shine a light on this unique, artist-driven project in Schenectady City School District. Thanks also to Devesh Chandra and Veena Chandra for giving so generously of their time, and for being the primary architects of this Our Town Project, funded by the NEA.

Our Town Grant Spotlight: Ancient Art in New Contexts New York Folklore Society Executive Director Ellen McHale and renowned sitarist Veena Chandra share how they are bringing North Indian classical traditions to schools in Schenectady, New York.

New York Folklore Friend, Lalita will be representing Guyana at this celebration! Make sure you check it out.

Caribbean American Heritage Month Celebration at the Empire State Plaza! Representation matters, so come out and show your flags to represent your homeland or your favorite Caribbean country.
Don't miss out on the festivities!
🇬🇾🇭🇹🇹🇹🇯🇲🇧🇧🇦🇬🇵🇷🇧🇷🇨🇺🇸🇷🇬🇩

➡️Come to New York Folklore to learn all about the Mashramani headpieces for the holiday that celebrates Guyana becoming a republic with artist Divena Ramessar.
Make one to take home!
(Masks shown are from another event… the headdresses Divena will be presenting will be even more AMAZING!!!)

🎉And it’s all FREE at our 30th anniversary from noon to 4 p.m. on June 1!

The Pan African Youth Orchestra has begun!

We interrupt the usual promotions for our festival with this breaking news.
Art in Bloom will OFFICIALLY return to the Schenectady Greenmarket on May 19, but unofficially for Mother's Day on May 11. Hope to see you in Downtown Schenectady this Sunday.