Tucson Meet Yourself Folklife Festival

Tucson’s beloved folklife festival, since 1974 

Food, Music, Dance, Folk Arts

Free!

Live Performances

Over 75 live performances of traditional dance and music on three stages. Plus a special Accordion Encuentro!

Delicious Food

Over 50 food vendors with 15 new vendors sharing cuisine from Oaxacan, Moroccan, Syrian, Chamoru, Southern BBQ, and more.

Friendly Folk Artists

Over 75 traditional artists sharing traditional and contemporary craft from jewelry, woodworking, basketry and more.

Folklife Here

A wide range of folklife expressions under one roof—from drag queen make-up artistry to barbershop customs to women corridistas and more. Powered by TEP.

Kidlore Pavilion

Celebrate in the folklore of childhood with live and interactive performances and activities, plus a giant “alebrije”! Sponsored by PNC Bank.

Culture Kitchen

Share favorite dishes, techniques, and stories. Demos by Chinese Chorizo Festival, Anita St. Market, and Agave Heritage Festival. Sponsored by Tucson Water.

And Don’t Miss…

Folklife Everywhere: We’re saturating the festival grounds—literally—with invitations to reflect on your own folklife. How do you greet your friends? What’s your nickname? What’s a tradition you learned from an elder?

Dukes for a Day: Catch the lowrider car show only on Saturday at 41 E Pennington/Congress St, a parking lot across from City High School. 

“Traditions in Motion” A pop-up exhibit from Arizona State Museum celebrating car culture artistry and adaptation artistry in the Indigenous Southwest.

Community Matters: 75 community education projects and cultural entrepreneurs showcasing their causes and goods.

Heritage Beer Garden: For the second year in a row, TMY partners with Borderlands Brewery to bring a sampling of heritage brews inspired by Southern Arizona culture and geography. New location this year on Church and Pennington.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 

SATURDAY, OCT 05

University of Arizona Stage at Stone Ave.

11:00 to 11:45 AM

Qin's Studio

Chinese Folk Songs

Performance

12:00 to 12:45 PM

Keeping with (and Blending) Tradition

Encounter: Elijah Ndoye, Tom Walbank, Ted Warmbrand

Encounter

1:00 to 1:45 PM

Dance in Southeast Asia

Encounter: Golden Lotus (Vietnamese Dance) and UA FASA (Filipino Dance)

Encounter

2:00 to 2:45 PM

Om Shanti Bollywood Fusion Dance Team

Bollywood Dance

Workshop

3:00 to 3:45 PM

Golden Lotus

Vietnamese Dance

Performance

4:00 to 4:45 PM

Las Azaleas

Mexican Folk, Cuban Bolero, Mariachi, Music in Spanish, Latin Music, Latin Vocal Music, Latin Trio Music

Performance

5:00 to 5:45 PM

The Old Pueblo Bluegrass Band

Traditional Appalachian, Folk & Americana

Performance

6:00 to 6:45 PM

Hung Gar Wing Chun Club

Traditional Chinese Martial Arts & Cantonese Lion Dance

Workshop

7:00 to 10:00 PM

All My Relations with Gabriel Ayala

Performance

Desert Diamond Casino Stage at Jacome Plaza Lawn

11:00 to 11:45 AM

Tucson Sino Dance

Traditional Chinese Dance

Workshop

12:00 to 12:45 PM

Tucson Chinese Dance

Chinese traditional and classical dance

Workshop

1:00 to 1:45 PM

Tucson Chinese Cultural Center

Chinese Lion Dance & Music

Performance

2:00 to 2:45 PM

Halau Hula O Ualani and her Menehune Dancers

Polynesian & Hawaiian Traditional Dance

Workshop

3:00 to 3:45 PM

Lajkonik Polish Folk Ensemble

Polish Folk Dance

Workshop

4:00 to 4:45 PM

Saguaro Strutters

Line Dancing

Workshop

5:00 to 5:45 PM

Larry Armstrong with Copper Moon

Western Swing

Performance

6:00 to 6:45 PM

Capoeira Mandinga & Capoeira Institute Southwest

Brazilian Martial Art Demonstration

Performance

7:00 to 7:45 PM

Philippine Mabuhay Cultural Foundation of Tucson

Traditional Dance of the Philippines

Workshop

8:00 to 8:45 PM

King-Doumbya Drumming and Dance

Music and dance of the African diaspora

Workshop

9:00 to 10:00 PM

Liudvik Cutino

Tropical music with gospel, jazz and R&B influences. Cuban and Mexican original songs.

Performance

Rio Nuevo Stage at Church Ave

11:00 to 11:45 AM

Compañía de Danza Folklórica Arizona

Mexican Folklorico Dance

Performance

12:00 to 12:45 PM

Ludo Djore

Traditional Bulgarian Music

Performance

1:00 to 1:45 PM

Quarter Royale

Balkan-inspired Blues

Performance

2:00 to 2:45 PM

Kathi Huhtaluhta & World Winds

Traditional & Contemporary Scandinavian Music

Performance

3:00 to 3:45 PM

Odaiko Sonora

Taiko - Japanese Ensemble Drumming

Performance

4:00 to 4:45 PM

Masehua Folclorico Dance

Mexican Folclorico Dance

Performance

5:00 to 5:45 PM

Siva Maia Polynesian Dancers

Polynesian Dance

Performance

6:00 to 6:45 PM

Calpulli Tonantzin

Aztec Chichimeca Dance

Performance

7:00 to 7:45 PM

Seven Pipers Scottish Dancers & Tucson District Pipe Band

Scottish Music & Dance

Performance

8:00 to 10:00 PM

Accordion Encuentro

An Encounter of Indigenous Accordion Music from the Americas

Encounter

TEP Folklife Here Pavilion

11:00 to 12:00 PM

Singing Agaves

Anthony Belvado, Traditional Apache Violins

Presentation

12:00 to 1:00 PM

Learning Mandarin

Tucson International Academy's Language Immersion Program

Presentation

1:00 to 2:00 PM

Tucson Electric Power

Community Energy Solutions

Presentation

2:00 to 3:00 PM

Disability and the Culture of Place (CART & ENG-SPAN)

Naomi Ortiz on Vulnerability and Possibility

Presentation/Conversation

3:00 to 4:00 PM

Folclor del Norte with Dr. Guillermo Nunez Noriega (CART & ENG-SPAN)

Sonoran Folklife Practices

Presentation/Conversation

4:00 to 5:00 PM

VietNail

The Occupational Folklife of Nail Salons

Presentation

5:00 to 6:00 PM

Las Corridistas (ENG-SPAN)

Women in Corridos with Celestino Fernandez & Las Azaleas

Presentation

Culture Kitchen

11:00 to 12:30 PM

Recipe for Solidarity: Chinese Chorizo Festival & Anita Street Market

Chinese Chorizo Festival & Anita Street Market

Conversation

12:30 to 2:00 PM

Fried Chicken Demo

with Monica Jones of The Outlaw Project

Demonstration

2:00 to 3:30 PM

Persian Love Cake

with Shazieh Gorji of Agave Pantry

Presentation & Tasting

3:30 to 9:00 PM

Agave Heritage Festival

Demos and Conversations on Spirits and Distillation

Demonstration 

Admissions

Tucson Meet Yourself is a FREE event.