This year, the 15th annual Bookmarks Festival in Winston-Salem lands on the same weekend as the second North Carolina Folk Festival in Greensboro. Starting Thursday through Sunday, authors, musicians and performers will descend upon the two cities and bring with them unique live performances as well as impressive works of the written variety. Rather than choosing one event or the other to cover, this year we’ve decided to highlight musicians and writers from each festival under shared themes. Here you’ll find insight into how and why these artists to do what they do.

The Bookmarks Festival takes place from Thursday through Sunday. More info including a schedule of events can be found on their website at bookmarksnc.org.
The NC Folk Festival takes place from Friday through Sunday. More info including a schedule of performances can be found on their website at ncfolkfestival.com. Both events are free and open to the public.

On what it means to be an immigrant:

  • Rajia Hassib (Bookmarks)
  • Michael Mwenso of Mwenso & the Shakes (NC Folk Festival)
  • Rajia Hassib
  • Mwenso and the Shakes

On Appalachian culture and identity:

  • Anya Hinkle (NC Folk Festival)
  • Meredith McCall (Bookmarks)
  • Anya Hinkle
  • Meredith McCall

On women of color as artists:

  • Dhonielle Clayton (Bookmarks)
  • Kiran Ahluwalia (NC Folk Festival)
  • Dhonielle Clayton
  • Kiran Ahluwalia

On how to create stories for children:

  • Stacy McAnulty (Bookmarks)
  • Jon Sundell (NC Folk Festival)
  • Stacy McAnulty
  • Jon Sundell

On black excellence:

  • Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome (Bookmarks)
  • North Carolina A&T State University Cold Steel Drumline (NC Folk Festival)
  • Lesa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome
  • North Carolina A&T State University Cold Steel Drumline

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