Alabama Folklife Association | Birmingham, AL 35210

Welcome to the Alabama Folklife Association (AFA)

What is folklife?

Folklife includes expressions of traditional culture such as foodways, music, lore, games, festivals, annual events, and material items including pottery, quilts, baskets, clothing, fish traps, and brooms. These cultural expressions demonstrate knowledge and skills passed down from one generation to the next through family, community, group, or region. The folklife of Alabama has taken root in the social life, history, and experiences of the people of this state, and informs our fundamental notions of who we are, what we value, and how we relate to the world.

What is the AFA?

The AFA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization created in 1980 to document, preserve, and promote the folkways of Alabama through research, education, and programs. A partner program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, the AFA fulfills the mission through funding scholarly research and the Archive of Alabama Folk Culture; presenting and disseminating folk and traditional arts through CDs, publications, programs, exhibits, and web sites; and providing scholars, authors, artists, and educators with the resources, skills, and tools to enhance their contributions and carry out projects consistent with the mission of the AFA. Through web sites and social media, the AFA works to promote traditional artists, events, festivals, folkways, and local organizations and institutions dedicated to the field.

What does the AFA do?

UPCOMING EVENTS

(click above for calendar)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

9:30 a.m.

31st Annual Capital City

Shape Note Singing

Old Alabama Town

Loeb Reception Center

Montgomery, Alabama

SEE FLYER HERE

W.C. Handy Music Festival