Big Horn Basin Folk Festival

Come join us August 5-6, 2017, for a great weekend in Hot Springs State Park, Thermopolis! We are celebrating Wyoming artists, artisans, craftsmen and craftswomen as well as our Wyoming heritage!

While a bad credit rating can make it much harder to find cheap loans, there are still options available to you if you want to borrow money and avoid paying payday loans that are extremely risky and can easily push you into debt.

For the third year, the Big Horn Basin Folk Festival will celebrate who we are - where we live - and what we do. What is special about Wyoming is we still work with our hands -- it's part of our heritage and even today's culture. Our artisans range from those who raise fiber animals and process their own fiber to those who work in forged metal; woodturners and furniture makers; basket makers and quilters; those who work in mixed media, rug hooking and rope making.

NEW!! Wyoming Folkmasters sponsored by Wyoming Arts Council

Information soon!

Juried Arts & Crafts Show

The Juried Art Show includes artisans who produce and sell their own work, and which has been recognized as quality in their chosen medium. Last year, our artists ranged from woodworkers and furniture makers to jewelers to mixed media. The Call to Artists closes July 30, 2017.

Kiwanis Craft Fair

You'll find food booths at the Kiwanis Craft Fair as well as those who sell "consumables," such as homemade soaps, candles, herbal and food products. There are also sale booths for those who represent groups of artisans (galleries, museums).

Folk Arts Demonstrators

This is a family-friendly event -- great for grandparents and grandkids -- parents and children -- young adults interested in how artisans take the traditional skills and adapt them to today's modern aesthetics. There will be plenty of crafts persons demonstrating their skills, eager to talk about what they do and their own special techniques. Many don't sell at shows but simply create for their friends, family or to carry on a skill, so it's a rare opportunity to be able to visit with them and see their work.

Music at the Pavilion

We've got a great line-up this year -- with Celtic, country, blues, gospel, traditional - plus Jewish/Israeli dancers -- all part of the great mix and sound that is Wyoming. You'll find most musicians performing at the Pavilion. This year's line-up includes:

Darrell Lonebear, Wind River Arapahoe, hand-drumming
Cheyenne Sinai Synagogue Dancers, Cheyenne, Jewish/Israeli dance
Miss V, "Gypsy Cowbelle," Thermopolis, traditional & original country cowgirl, banjo & guitar
Connie Dover, Sunshine Basin, traditional Celtic
Jared Rogerson, Pinedale, country/Americana/Western/folk
Whiskey Slaps, Laramie, traditional styles with contemporary picking & harmonies; guitar, mandolin, stand-up bass
Round the Bend, Laramie, traditional folk
Rattlesnake Ridge, Worland, country/rock/blues
Heaven Bound, Basin, Sunday morning gospel

Wyoming Storytelling Circle

Last year we held the state's first-ever Storytelling Circle, and we are at it again. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of art -- and one of the first to which children are exposed. Before the internet, television and radio, people told stories around campfires, on porches and anywhere where families or friends gathered. We still do -- and we are celebrating storytelling with a Storytelling Tent with members of the Big Horn Basin Storytelling Guild, along with some special guests -- artists, poets and singers who tell stories. This year, the Storytelling Circle is co-sponsored by Hot Springs County Library -- and they promise a special activity for kids on Sunday afternoon -- where kids get to act out the story!

Gift of the Waters Pageant Days

This is the 67th consecutive year that the Gift of the Waters Pageant has been held in Hot Springs State Park. The terraces and hot springs had been used for years by the Native Americans, who believed that the waters were beneficial to health and that they could make a warrior invincible in battle. In 1896, representatives of the Wind River Reservation's Shoshone and Arapaho tribes sold the hot springs to the federal government, with the requirement that a portion of the land and springs be forever reserved for the use and benefit of all.

Wyoming Arts Council
Folkmasters