New England Folk Festival

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 28–29 October 1944 and attracted 200 attendees, mainly to watch performances of local ethnic dance performing groups. The NEFFA festival was founded in 1944, long before several more famous folk festivals, such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival (1962) and the Newport Folk Festival (1959). In recent decades, NEFFA has been influential as a model for dance and music festivals in New England, and nationally, including upstate New York's Flurry Festival (founded 1988) and Maine's Down East Country Festival (founded 1991). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020, 2021 and 2022 festivals were held virtually. The festival has again been held in person beginning in 2023. == The festival program and performers ==

In recent years, participatory dancing occurs simultaneously in three halls, most prominently contra dance, international folk dance, and English country dance, in addition to other genres of dance. A variety of concerts, discussions and other more intimate performances take place in numerous class room spaces. Family-oriented events occur during daylight hours on Saturday and Sunday. A courtyard outside is devoted to Morris dancing, Rapper Sword and Longsword dancing. Sunday afternoons typically schedule dance and music demonstrations of a variety of ethnic dances, by local and distant dance groups, in the main hall. The hundreds of volunteer musicians, singers, dance callers, leaders and dance-demonstration performers are primarily from New England and every year a number arrive from more distant parts of North America. The performers apply in the fall, and the program is announced in the spring. == The NEFFA association ==

, in May 2003, (before the dance moved to Concord) In addition to the annual spring festival, NEFFA conducts the weekly Thursday Night Contra dance, formerly in Cambridge and as of 2006, held at the Concord Scout House. The dance is nationally known in the contra dance community for its vibrancy and popularity. NEFFA also conducts a separate annual winter festival called the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend, in honor of one of the organization's founders, to promote understanding of the history and development of traditional Anglo-American dance forms in New England, especially contra dance and square dance. NEFFA has also published influential books about traditional dance and choreography. NEFFA is an affiliate of the Country Dance and Song Society. == See also ==