National Folk Festival Attracts Large Crowds, Reaches Donation Goal

Officials with The National Folk Festival are celebrating a successful run in Greensboro.

This year's festival attracted more people and received more donations than during its first two years in the city.

Tom Philion is the president and chief executive of ArtsGreensboro, which co-produced the free three-day event in September.

Philion tells the News and Record of Greensboro that about 162,000 people attended the festival. That's up nearly 59 percent since it first came to the city.

Philion says good weather contributed to this year's large turnout.

The festival also surpassed a fundraising goal of $77,000, nearly doubling donations from the previous year.

The National Folk Festival next moves to Salisbury, Maryland.

The locally-produced North Carolina Folk Festival will launch next September in Greensboro.