Located in the center of the National Folk Festival site at the corner of East Broadway and Arizona Streets, the Family Area for the 70th National featured storytelling, workshops, parades, interactive music, quiet games and active games, hands-on crafts and other creative learning opportunities for young audiences and their families.

The Family Area for the 70th National Folk Festival was programmed by the Butte Silver Bow Arts Foundation, a group with a long and distiguished track record for programming activities for children that convey skills and an appreciation for traditional arts.

The Family Area of the National Folk Festival is always an area packed with fun and excitement for children and whoever they happen to bring along with them.  This year’s activities for the area were no exception.

In 2008, the entire family area was themed to explore the natural environment through the role played by the willow plant, an abundant but unassuming plant that nevertheless has played an important role in the ecosystem of Southwest Montana since pre-historic times. 

In the 2008 Family Area, dubbed Willow World, the entire family had the chance to learn about and explore the many uses of willow in both traditional and contemporary art forms.  Festival goers of all ages and experience levels were able to take part in a variety of activities that allowed them to interact with one another and with nature through the process of learning about an important component of the ecosystem.

Children who stopped by were invited to weave baskets, toys and jewelry with expert willow weaver Bobi Marshall.  Paper making expert Corey Grace helped children learn how they can make paper from willow. 

Paulette Shanklin helped the “budding” artists in the crowd to express themselves by painting using natural pigments and paintbrushes made from – what else? Willow branches!

Artists interested in using another medium were able to learn to draw with charcoal (made from willow) in a charcoal-making demonstration led by Ken Kolpin and Ed Shaw.

Throughout the weekend, those who stopped by the Family Area were able to contribute to the construction of a collaborative contemporary river sculpture made of willow with lead willow sculptor Shawn Crowe.
The Clark Fork Watershed Education Program was also on hand to show and explain the important role that willow has always played in the health of rivers, streams and wetlands in Montana and the West.
In the same area, children were able to learn traditional games taught by the International Traditional Games Society.  Three trainers were on hand to demonstrate games that have been played by children for hundreds of years before the arrival of Xbox and Playstation and hear traditional Native American stories that entertain while they teach important lessons about the natural world. 

Between activities that taught an appreciation for traditional games, crafts and other skills, the audience enjoyed continuing performances, storytelling, workshops, parades, interactive music, quiet games and active games, hands-on crafts and other creative learning opportunities for young audiences and their families.

The Family Area also featured a stage with continuous live performances and the Family Stage featured a variety of performances including puppetry, music, dance and other art forms, all designed to be fun for both children and adults.