Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions
New opportunity for Kansas nonprofits! Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions are dynamic presentations that connect Kansans with our state's rich traditions through engaging storytelling, food, music, craft and dance demonstrations.
Kansas Folklife presentations:
- Are 60-minutes in length.
- Must take place before August 31, 2026.
- Can be presented in person only.
- Are separate from HK’s Speakers Bureau; Kansas nonprofits may book up to four Folklife presentations and four Speakers Bureau presentations in 2026.
- Have a $100 booking fee. Organizations hosting a Kansas Folklife presentation must pay a $100 booking fee. Humanities Kansas pays the honoraria and travel expenses for presenters.
How to Bring a Kansas Folklife Presenter to Your Community
- Review the Kansas Folklife Catalog and select a presenter and topic. There is a booking free of $100 per presentation. A nonprofit organization can book up to four presentations from this catalog.
All presentations are 60-minutes in length unless otherwise noted. - Contact the presenter and confirm time, date, format, and presentation needs, and location. All events must occur before August 31, 2026. Discussing the presentation needs is critical. Now's the time to find out how much space the presenter(s) need, the technology required, and more. What's listed in the catalog may be incomplete.
Consider creating your own mini-folklife festival. Invite mulitple presenters from HK's catalog and consider adding a few talented people from your community. - Apply online at humanitieskansas.org for program funding to bring the presenter to your community. You'll pay the booking fee during the application process and Humanities Kansas will cover the remaining expenses. Payment can be made online by credit or debit card, or by check through the mail.
- Publicize your event! Humanities Kansas events must be free and open to the public. Download a template for your press release, presenter bio, presenter photo, social media graphic, and more.
- Tell us how it went! After the event, fill out an event evaluation and cost share form online (required). Send us photos! Your $100 booking fee will count toward cost share.
Explore Kansas Folklife Catalog
Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions is part of "By the People: Beyond 250," a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils across the nation in collaboration with local partners. The initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The Kansas Folklife catalog of presenters was created for Kansas by Humanities Kansas.
Together, these programs in Kansas and across the United States of America explore 250 years of the nation's cultural life and provide opportunities to imagine our future.
Questions? Please contact Kaitlyn Savage, Operations Manager, at 785-357-0359 for more information about Kansas Folklife: Celebrating Kansas Traditions.