Produced by East Texas Folk Festival, Inc.
P.O. Box 628, Huntsville, Texas 77342-0628
mmcmanus100@yahoo.com smm_pbn@shsu.edu
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General Sam Houston Folk Festival Produced by East Texas Folk Festival, Inc. P.O. Box 628, Huntsville, Texas 77342-0628 mmcmanus100@yahoo.com smm_pbn@shsu.edu |
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Mike McManus Chairman Sunny Fulenwider Secretary/Treasurer Caroline Crimm Dale Dotzler India Love Cherie Meroney Patrick Nolan Bill Nowlin Poncho Roberts Ruth Samuell Ahia Shabaaz Kimm Thomas |
MISSION AND HISTORY: The mission of the General Sam Houston Folk Festival is to increase all visitors' understanding and appreciation for Texas history, the life of Sam Houston, and our frontier & pioneer heritage. The program is a major component of Huntsville's tourism development plan and a significant contributor to the local economy. The General Sam Houston Folk Festival dates back to 1988, a time of financial crisis for the Sam Houston Memorial Museum. It was created when the Governor of Texas had line-item vetoed the Museum's state appropriation and the Museum faced the imminent threat of closure. Local citizens in Huntsville created the East Texas Folk Festival Inc., modeled on the highly successful Texas Folklife Festival sponsored by the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio. The Festival soon changed its name to the General Sam Houston Folk Festival to more closely identify with Texas' most famous citizen. That first year the Festival succeeded in raising enough income through admissions and sponsorships to defray much of the Museum's operating expenses until the state legislature restored funding the next year. Subsequently the group has run the Festival on an annual basis, with a gradually changing emphasis away from fund-raising and toward a broader educational goal. Currently the Festival attracts over 15,000 visitors to the Museum grounds for three days in late-April or early May with a wide variety of craft demonstrators, living-history reenactors, musical and historical entertainment. The Festival is managed by a board of directors made up of local citizens from the Huntsville community. The Festival maintains no official link to Sam Houston State University except for taking place annually on the Museum's grounds. The net "profit" from the Festival, after a reserve is held for next year's expenses, is donated to the Museum annually. The demonstrations, reenactments, entertainment, and living-history programs are clearly designed to fit within the mission of the Museum.Ethnic populations: The Festival has major emphases on African-American, Hispanic-American, and Native American participation and attendance by sponsoring tents for each group, holding reenactment camps, and featuring ethnic entertainment. The attendance is approximately 75% Caucasian, 15% Hispanic-American, 5% African American, and 5% Native American. ORGANIZATION: The East Texas Folk Festival Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dba General Sam Houston Folk Festival exists to preserve and promote the legacy of Sam Houston and the frontier life and pioneer traditions of that time in East Texas. The host location and chief beneficiary of the event is the Sam Houston Memorial Museum complex. The Festival supports improvement and expansion of facilities resulting in expanded education and programming. The Friday "School Day" program is evaluated by a survey form completed by all teachers bringing school groups. Regular attendance is evaluated by random exit surveys conducted by university volunteers. The Folk Festival works in conjunction with the New Army of the Republic of Texas, a reenactment group which provides year-round activities depicting life in Texas in the 1840s. Other organizations involved include Sam Houston State University, Sam Houston Museum, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Gulf Coast Trades Center, and the Huntsville Convention & Visitor’s Bureau.
AUDIENCE REACH: The Festival has already accommodated over 190,000 visitors.
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