For the next three years, the City of Jackson will be hosting the National Folk Festival, kicking off the 82nd festival on Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025, in downtown Jackson. Nine months out from the event, the festival just announced that it is accepting applications for food and marketplace vendors.

“Soul food and comfort food is what Mississippi is known for, but the reality of it is that there’s so many cultures that are represented here,” Local Festival Manager Thabi Moyo said in an interview with the Mississippi Free Press on Feb. 28.

The festival committee wants food vendors offering regional specialities and international cuisines as well as handmade creations from Mississippi and Deep South artists and craftspeople.

“You have the Vietnamese community on the coast. In the Delta, you have another Asian community. You have Godfrey’s over here in central Mississippi and Jackson representing Caribbean cuisine. You have all sorts of amazing restaurants that do fusion,” she listed. “I think we have a rich culture in general when it comes to the culinary scene.”

Local Festival Manager Thabi Moyo applied for the position due to the civic pride that happens once a city hosts and because she believes in the possible economic benefits for local business owners. Photo courtesy Thabi Moyo

Since 1934, the National Folk Festival has celebrated the roots, richness and variety of American culture through food, music and crafts. It was the first event of national stature to present the artistic traditions of all Americans on equal footing. Today, the three-day event is a traveling festival that has visited states such as Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and others.

Moyo acts as the liaison between the National Council for Traditional Arts and the local stakeholders involved with putting the festival together.

“I oversee all of the administrative elements of the festival,” the Jackson native said. “I supervise fundraising and marketing. A lot of management of local operations will fall under my purview, as well as any local vendors that we’re bringing into the fall for services.”

The committee is made up of locals and National Council for Traditional Arts members who will be choosing food vendors based on food specialities from across Mississippi and the Deep South; international flavors from the state and region; snacks and desserts; “fair” foods; other main dishes; and specialty beverages, the festival’s website lists. Vendors will also have the opportunity to tell the committee about any specialty items on their menus.

‘Bringing Together Partners’

The festival’s marketplace will feature both deeply traditional crafts and more contemporary artists’ expressions with priority given to artists from the state. The committee will be looking at product quality and uniqueness; previous experience serving festivals or large crowds; overall presentation; business location (whether they are a regional or local vendor); and productivity (whether they have the ability to serve large numbers of customers in a short period of time).

“You get this authenticity in creating the art whether it be jewelry, whether it be visual art, whether it be food,” Moyo said. “Everything kind of falls within this umbrella of just the creativity that you bring to something. But I think the fact that it’s handmade will really be the thing that shines.”

Eligible items include—but aren’t limited to—pottery, jewelry, paintings, quilts, custom furniture, sculpture, mixed media, textile art, stained and blown glass, photography, woodwork, and packaged made-in-Mississippi/Deep South food products, the website states.

In getting more comfortable in her role as the festival manager, Moyo has also learned the role and lasting influences the almost 90-year-old festival can have on communities like Jackson and the state as a whole.

“What attracted me to (the festival) is to hear this narrative of civic pride that historically happens within a host city because you’re bringing together partners that have to work together in ways that they haven’t had to before,” she said.

Oxford, Md., bee farmer BeeGeorge Honey was one of more than 20 vendors chosen for the 81st National Folk Festival, which took place in Salisbury, Md., in August 2022. Photo courtesy National Folk Festival

The economic benefits and the potential trickle-down effect the festival can have on local downtown businesses also interested Moyo in applying for the manager position.

“Attendance in the first year falls somewhere between 60,000 and 80,000 people, so you can imagine the economic impact for the downtown area, hotels, restaurants,” she added.

The early bird application deadline is March 14, 2025, but the final application deadline is May 19, 2025. Applicants must submit a completed food vendor application; one current photograph of their food vending operation; at least three current photos of their food or specialty beverage; and a non-refundable $35 application fee.

Moyo believes the festival is a great opportunity for local vendors and craftspeople to be a part of something really meaningful to their communities—not just locally, but statewide.

“I think it’s an opportunity to connect with other businesses, small-business owners,” she told the Mississippi Free Press. “It’s something that can be a very positive thing financially for these businesses, and that’s something that can happen for years to come because it’s a festival that will be here for this three-year residency.”

The City of Jackson will host the 82nd National Folk Festival from Friday, Nov. 7, through Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025. The event is free, though vendor prices vary. To learn more about the history of the festival, visit nationalfolkfestival.com. For more information about the application process and guidelines for vendors, read those details here.

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National Folk Festival Accepting Applications for Mississippi Food and Marketplace Vendors

‘Bringing Together Partners’

Local Dining Stream

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