The International Folk Festival, a staple of life in Fayetteville, is returning to Festival Park and part of Hay Street stronger than ever for its 46th iteration.

The festival will bring back its traditional and well-attended parade of nations, which showcases the heritage of the city’s residents, and features 30 arts and crafts and food vendors, a children’s play area and several performing artists. The IFF will run from Sept. 27-29. 

The parade was canceled last year due to inclement weather, something organizers with the Arts Council of Fayetteville say they hope doesn’t happen again.

The purpose of the festival is to bring together members of the city’s different cultural communities behind one idea: we are all residents of Fayetteville. This notion brings together more than 30+ cultural groups who are represented in the parade of nations, as well as in the festival’s international cafe. 

“I’ve known of the festival since I was in middle school/early high school when I was growing up around here,” said Miles McKeller-Smith, the council’s director of public relations. “It has always been a great chance to go and explore different cultures. You may come here for the food and just end up finding different performances that you’ll love. For me, it has always been a chance to really immerse myself in a culture that may not be mine.” 

Beyond that, the festival is about sharing and understanding, McKeller-Smith said.

“You have folks who have a chance to really demonstrate something about their culture and really just be able to feel that sense of pride,” McKeller-Smith said. “But also, more importantly, like, share it with somebody who maybe knows a little bit and can deepen their knowledge.” 

The cafe showcases family-style recipes from vendors representing their international heritage. 

“If you’re looking for good authentic food, if you want family recipe-type food, come out to the International Folk Festival,” said Carly Cox, a communications and outreach assistant at the Arts Council. “You will see aunts and grandmothers in the back prepping food, while the younger generation is the one that is handling customer service. It still has that touch of home.”

Event attendees will be able to purchase a sampling voucher that will allow them to sample smaller dishes at participating stands. 

“It is such a good way for you to get a little sampling of every single place that you can,” Cox said. “It is a really good way to taste your way around the world.”

This year the festival will also feature more than 30 arts and crafts vendors.

“We’ve got everything from jewelry, to rocks, body butters, candles,” Cox said. “We have a vendor this year who makes different kinds of glass items with pressed flowers on them.”

One of the exciting vendors this year is Jhase Made lemonade, a mother and son-operated Lemonade stand, Cox said.

“Jhase, the little boy, came up with this idea. It's an adorable food truck,” she said. “But they're lemonades made with natural products, like locally sourced honeys, different teas and stuff like that.”

The new play area for children, Cox said, will be particularly exciting to Jhase. 

“I was talking to his mom and she specifically mentioned wanting to be by the kid’s area because Jhase loves to go play with his friends,” Cox said.

For Cox, opportunities for fun at the festival are about being inclusive and providing something for everyone. Part of that is what has made vendors extremely loyal over the years, she said.

Half of the vendors, Cox noted, have applied to be at the festival every year for the last five years. 

“We have vendors that have been very loyal year after year,” she said. 

The festival’s website states that it typically hosts anywhere from 50,000 to 75,000 attendees. Organizers said they expect attendance numbers this year to remain in that ballpark -- around 50,000 to 65,000 visitors are expected to return for the festival this September.

Cox said she is confident that newcomers and regular attendees alike should be able to fully take in the festival from the outset. 

“Just watching everybody with such pride and such love for their homelands and their culture going down Hay Street, and then segueing straight into Festival Park where you are immediately met with the smells of delicious food… I knew then I understood why people loved the festival,” Cox said.

Vendor applications are now open with deadlines to apply ranging from Aug. 31- Sept. 19. Interested vendors can learn more by going online to www.wearethearts.com/iff.