Keeping the Culture
"The old songs live forever"
Published: June 1, 2024
Last Updated: September 1, 2024
![Keeping the Culture](https://64parishes.org/wp-content/uploads/Carter-Family-on-Festival-Main-Stage-1984_cropped-1070x1000.png)
Louisiana Folklife Center, Northwestern State University
Helen Carter (seated) and the Carter Family Band performing at the 1984 Natchitoches Folk Festival.
Since 1980 master craftspeople, musicians, dancers, and other keepers of culture have gathered to discuss, educate, and demonstrate at the Natchitoches–Northwestern State University Folk Festival. This year’s festival, with the theme “The Old Songs Live Forever,” will take place Saturday, July 20, inside NSU’s Prather Coliseum.