MISSION AND HISTORY

The mission of the General Sam Houston Folk Festival is to increase all visitors' understanding and appreciation for Texas history, the life of Sam Houston, and our frontier & pioneer heritage. The program is a major component of Huntsville's tourism development plan and a significant contributor to the local economy.

The General Sam Houston Folk Festival dates back to 1988, a time of financial crisis for the Sam Houston Memorial Museum. It was created when the Governor of Texas had line-item vetoed the Museum's state appropriation and the Museum faced the imminent threat of closure. Local citizens in Huntsville created the East Texas Folk Festival Inc., modeled on the highly successful Texas Folklife Festival sponsored by the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio. The Festival soon changed its name to the General Sam Houston Folk Festival to more closely identify with Texas' most famous citizen. That first year the Festival succeeded in raising enough income through admissions and sponsorships to defray much of the Museum's operating expenses until the state legislature restored funding the next year. Subsequently the group has run the Festival on an annual basis, with a gradually changing emphasis away from fund-raising and toward a broader educational goal. Currently the Festival attracts over 15,000 visitors to the Museum grounds for three days in late-April or early May with a wide variety of craft demonstrators, living-history reenactors, musical and historical entertainment.