smiler,

My husband Bill D and I have orgnized the crafts for the Washington (DC) Folk Festival for the past few years, and have been volunteers/performers/crafters there for over two decades.

One of the outstanding joys of being able to program such a festival in the Washington area is the ability to find and present wonderful examples of traditional folk arts from a huge variety of countries and ethnic groups. We also feature mainstream folk artists from the area, including many members of our own Folklore Society.

I guarantee the program committee gives a lot of attention to the mix of ethnic groups. It creates awareness of the richness of other folk traditions, gives exposure to these wonderful performers, and adds variety, color and verve to the Festival.

When you're putting together a folk festival, "finding the best performers" actually should not be your only criterion unless you are awarding prizes or some such thing, like the National Heritage Awards Ceremony. It can also be valid, for example, to want to give people a sense of living folk traditions, to find young performers and give them exposure, to find "home-grown" musicians who never perform and give the public a chance to hear them, squeaks and mistakes and all, or, as here, to encourage and support the rich variety of national and ethnic folk traditions.

I'll get down off the soapbox now, ... Sorry I can't suggest any performers, ours are on the wrong side of the Pond.

Rita F