Photo Credit: National Folk Festival - Facebook
For one weekend this fall, a city will rise within our city.
Stages, tents, chairs and booths will transform downtown Jackson as musicians, artists, food vendors, visitors and volunteers come together for the 83rd National Folk Festival taking place Nov. 13-15, 2026. People will travel from across Mississippi and around the country to experience it.
This is an opportunity for Jackson residents to do more than just attend. It is also an opportunity to welcome the nation to our Capitol city, again.
The National Folk Festival returns to Jackson for its second year, and organizers Thabi Moyo and Shaquita Chapman say volunteers are essential to making the massive, free event possible.
“Volunteers are the backbone of the festival,” Moyo said. “We’re essentially building a city within a city.”
That city needs everything from water, security and operations to people greeting guests and helping festivalgoers navigate the experience. Last year, more than 400 volunteers answered the call. This year, organizers hope to double that number.
That sounds like a challenge tailor-made for Jackson residents.
What if neighborhood associations across the city each adopted a volunteer shift? What if neighbors who already organize cleanups, attend community meetings, check on elderly residents and advocate for their corners of Jackson brought that same spirit downtown?
There are plenty of ways to do it.
Neighborhood groups could join the Bucket Brigade, which Chapman jokingly compared to ushers passing the collection plate at church. Volunteers move through the festival accepting donations that help keep the event free. Groups can also work together in guest services, beverage sales, volunteer check-in or operations. The latter is for those willing to provide a little “elbow grease,” helping build the festival site, place chairs, make sandbags and handle other logistical needs.
Volunteers are also needed before the festival opens. In the weeks leading up to the event, organizers need help assembling packets, boxes, paperwork and other materials.
For first-time volunteers looking for something less physically demanding, there are options there, too. Festival Desk volunteers welcome artists and out-of-town guests at the host hotel. Music logging might be one of the best assignments for a music lover. Volunteers sit near a stage, listen to performances and document artists, dates and times.
Organizers provide training, volunteer coordinators and team leads to help people understand their assignments. Volunteers also receive designated parking, with shuttle transportation available from the fairgrounds. Since November weather in Mississippi can be unpredictable, Chapman offered practical advice, “Have sunscreen, boots, a scarf and raincoat ready.”
There is another reason neighborhood participation matters.
The National Folk Festival may physically occupy downtown Jackson, but Mississippi is woven throughout the experience. The Mississippi Folklife area highlights traditions and people from across the state, including everything from Vietnamese grocery traditions and natural hair braiding to catfish grabbing, tailgating and singing.
“Mississippi’s stamp is on it,” Moyo said.
Mississippi, she noted, was part of the National Folk Festival long before the festival arrived here because of the state’s enormous contribution to American music and culture.
“It’s like the festival’s coming home,” she said.
Jackson now has an opportunity to make that homecoming feel like one.
The goal is not simply to produce a successful festival this year, but to develop the infrastructure, relationships and volunteer base capable of sustaining it.
“That’s why the neighborhoods are important,” Moyo said.
“You get to see firsthand what it takes to build something of this magnitude, but you also have that civic pride, that community pride and just that love for it,” Chapman said.
So, consider this a friendly challenge to every neighborhood association in Jackson to adopt a shift.
Bring your association president. Bring the neighbor who always shows up for cleanup day. Bring the person who never comes to meetings but somehow knows everything happening on the block. Bring your teenagers. Bring a friend. Wear your neighborhood shirts if you have them, and show everybody which part of Jackson you represent.
Then, when visitors arrive from another neighborhood, another Mississippi town or another state, let them encounter something bigger than a festival.
Let them encounter us.
Jackson residents have an opportunity to come out in droves and welcome people into this city within a city. We can show visitors the Jackson we know and live in. It is one that is creative, culturally rich, hospitable and full of people willing to work for the community they call home.
Organizers are seeking more than 800 volunteers, and individuals, families, friends, churches, schools, offices and civic organizations can volunteer together. Most shifts are approximately three to four hours.
Ready to adopt a shift?
The festival needs a variety of volunteers and the greatest current need is:
• Bucket Brigade (greatest need, all shifts): Volunteers walk the festival grounds and stages with donation buckets, inviting festivalgoers to drop in a little to help keep the festival free. It's active and fun, and you're out in the crowd enjoying the music. It's great for families, church youth groups, high school groups, clubs and work teams. Children are welcome with an adult.
• Festival Survey (greatest need, all shifts): Volunteers talk with festivalgoers and collect short surveys for our economic impact report, which shows how the festival benefits Jackson and helps bring it back year after year. Saturday and Sunday shifts are wide open.
• Music Logging: Volunteers work alongside NCTA sound technicians to record and document live performances. The recordings become part of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Training is provided, and it's a great fit for music lovers who want to help preserve the festival's history.
• Transportation: Volunteer drivers help get artists and staff where they need to be throughout the weekend. Drivers must have a valid driver's license.
Shifts are just a few hours, and groups are encouraged to sign up together.
Interested in strengthening your neighborhood?
Interested in strengthening your neighborhood? Join the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods and become part of a citywide network of residents, neighborhood associations, businesses and community partners working together to build stronger communities. JAN members receive access to leadership training, resources and toolkits, funding opportunities, networking, collaborative programs and other programs.