Duncan Joins NCTA to Announce Return of Washington Irish Folk Festival

   st/irish.pr    98-40
   
   
   Contact:  Chris Williams, 301-565-0654
             Sue Tucker, 301-217-6531
   For Immediate Release: February 9, 1998
   
   
   Duncan Joins NCTA to Announce 
   Return of Washington Irish Folk Festival

Photos and Audio files from the press event.

  
   
        Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan today joined representatives of the
   National Council for the Traditional Arts and the Montgomery County Fairgrounds to
   announce the return of the Annual Washington Irish Folk Festival to Montgomery County this
   year.   The festival, which is a major event on the international folk circuit,  was held during
   the past five years at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna, Virginia.  
        This year's festival marks the 22nd year of the event, which will be held during Labor
   Day weekend, September 5 & 6.  Entertainment includes four outdoor music stages,
   traditional Irish dancing, stepdance demonstrations by local Irish dance schools, an indoor
   pub/performance area, family area activities, traditional craft demonstrations, readings by
   renowned Irish-American poets and authors, sheep dog trials and Connemara ponies, craft and
   food vendors and Gaelic athletic demonstrations.   
        "We are thrilled to have this festival return to Montgomery County," said Duncan. 
   "We pride ourselves on our cultural and ethnic diversity, and the Irish Folk Festival will be a
   welcome addition to our numerous annual ethnic festivities."
                                    
   
        The Irish Folk Festival is produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts,
   Inc. (NCTA), which is located in Silver Spring.  The NCTA is a not-for-profit corporation
   dedicated to the presentation and documentation of traditional arts in the United States.  
        "The Irish Folk Festival has long been considered one of the most important cultural
   events in the Washington Irish community," said Joe Wilson, Executive Director, NCTA. 
   "This year's move to the Montgomery County fairgrounds enables us to enlarge our scope and
   include additional artforms and activities."
        For more information about the festival, call the NCTA at 301-565-0654.
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