ORIGINAL NAME RETURNS TO KUTZTOWN FESTIVAL

More Information: Dave Fooks, 610-683-1537
e-mail: david@kutztownfestival.com

The 57-year old annual folklife festival in Kutztown, PA - known officially since 1996 as the “Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival” - now has its original name back.

Thanks to the generous contribution of noted Pennsylvania Dutch folklorist Richard Shaner, the festival has legal title to the name, “Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival”.

“We are very pleased and excited that the historic name that goes back to the origin of the festival and to its founders has returned, and we are thankful to Dick Shaner for making this possible,” said Festival Executive Director Dave Fooks.

Shaner purchased the name from Richard Thomas who acquired it in 1995 when he bought the assets of the festival, which had operated for many years at the Kutztown Fairgrounds. Shaner then gave the name to the Kutztown University Foundation, which is a partner with the Kutztown Fair Association in the Kutztown Pennsylvania German Festival.

He said his intention was to return the name to the Kutztown community because the festival and Kutztown are inseparable. The only stipulation is that the festival continues the folklife demonstrations and academic exhibits begun by the original founders.

Shaner commended Richard Thomas for his long-time association with the festival. “He cares for the Pennsylvania Dutch culture and he is an important part of the festival's history,” he said.

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Shaner is one of a few area residents who knew Dr. Alfred Shoemaker, who with Dr. Don Yoder and Dr. J. William Frey, were founders of the Pennsylvania Dutch Festival in 1950 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds. “I began researching Pennsylvania Dutch folklife for Dr. Shoemaker in 1960 when other Kutztown State College alumni and I had the good fortune to meet him in his downtown office on Main Street,” he recalls.

Shaner, a Kutztown resident and exhibitor at the festival, is a published historian and folklorist. He is a retired teacher and head of the Social Science Department of Oley Valley School District.

In 2005, the Kutztown Festival attracted a record 130,000 visitors. It is now the oldest, continuing folklife festival in America. It is one of the largest too, and last year drew well over 130,000 visitors. In addition, it is one of the most celebrated festivals in the nation. Among many honors, the festival has been twice selected as one of America's Top 100 events by the American Bus Association, and was named by the Washington Post as one of three “must see” festivals in the region.

The 2006 festival will be held July 1-9 at the Kutztown Fairgrounds. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Admission for adults is $12, seniors $11. Children 12 and under are admitted free.

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