New England Folk Festival - History

History

The idea for NEFFA came about in the summer of 1944, in a discussion over coffee after a square dance at the Boston YWCA. The participants were Grace Palmer, director of the YWCA; Mary Gillette, head of the YWCA's physical education program; and Ralph Page, the popular New Hampshire caller who presided at the square dances. The series had been running for little more than a year, but was already drawing over two hundred people every week, most of them college students. As Ralph Page later recalled the conversation, they were discussing a recent attempt at a "New England Folk Festival" at the Boston Garden which had left them unimpressed: "Mary said: 'Why don't we have a real folk festival?' and so the idea was born". Mary Gillette envisioned a festival where New England's many ethnic groups could share their song, dances, and crafts and present them to a wider audience, in a simple, honest, straightforward manner.

Grace Palmer offered the facilities of the Boston YWCA. Philip Sharples, who in 1940 had founded the Belmont Country Dance Group (one of the first square and contra dance series in the Boston area), joined with Mary Gillette and Ralph Page in calling local leaders to meet and talk it over. Many recreation agencies and ethnic groups sent representatives. From the start, the Festival Committee agreed to maintain an atmosphere of non-commercialism and high standards of performance and authenticity. The first festival took place on 28 October-29 October 1944 and attracted 200 attendees, mainly to watch performances of local ethnic dance performing groups.

The festival continued at the Boston YWCA five more times. From 1951 onward, it was held in a variety of town and cities near Boston, visiting Worcester several times, and once each in Exeter, New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire, North Kingston, Rhode Island, Brockton, Massachusetts and Lowell, Massachusetts. It was held in Natick High School for the four years ending in 1970, then returned to Natick in 1974 where it was held annually through 2006. In 2007 the festival was held for the first time in Mansfield High and Middle Schools. Over the course of 60-plus years, the festival has grown to a three-day affair, with about 5,000 admissions.