Folkfest marks 20th year

The Springville World Folkfest —one of the largest international folk dance festivals in the United States — is the product of faith, foresight and hard work on the part of a small group of dedicated residents who had a dream 20 years ago.

Those people wanted to create an annual, worldwide cultural exchange based on folk arts in Springville, a thing of beauty and friendship.

General director Teddy Anderson was on the board then and remembers it was a little scary to contemplate.

"It was something so entirely new that we figured if it did OK the first year, it would survive," Anderson said.

The first festival brought in 12 shows and four parades with 460 dancers from 13 countries who performed on a wooden stage built over home plate at a baseball field.

A few years later, the various groups were performing on the Springville High School football field until the festival moved to the Spring Acres Arts Park, a facility owned and maintained by Springville city and designed specifically to accommodate the Folkfest. Since 1985, more than 200,000 people have come to the unique, colorful event.

Today, in the festival's 20th year, musicians from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, India, Romania, Sri Lanka, Tahiti, Turkey and the United States are expected.

The United States will be represented by Morning Star, a Utah County-based American Indian group, and Clog America.

Hundreds of Utah County residents provide meals, transportation and lodging for the visiting performers, creating lifelong bonds between cultures and families. Thousands more volunteer to man ticket stations, help set up chairs and see to myriad details involved in staging the nonprofit event.

Without the host families and volunteers who work year-round on the festival, the cost of putting on the Folkfest could easily run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, Anderson said, instead of the annual $50,000 — funds raised every year through donations and sponsors.

Christi Babbitt, Folkfest spokeswoman, says the Folkfest is probably best epitomized by an international dance called the "Farandahl," traditionally danced the last night of the festival. Dancers and patrons join hands in a giant, surging chain, moving in and out with simple steps to lively music and forming a laughing, happy tapestry.