A group of students traveled with History Professor Brian Suttell, to the North Carolina Folk Festival.

“I’m so grateful the Smith Center was able to take us to the NC Folk Festival, it was amazing experiencing all the different food and music,” said junior Mackenzie Ellinger.

This trip was sponsored by Spencer Richard L Smith.

“One of the goals of the trips sponsored by the Smith Center is to get students to appreciate various cultures and start considering opportunities to study abroad,” said Suttell.

“I had an amazing time. I was able to experience different cultures in food, music, and art,” said Ellinger.

This was the festival’s 11th year running. It holds many of attractions, different varieties that range from food to music from all different kinds of cultures.

“There was breakdancing with all kinds of music, it also had vendors selling homemade items,” said Ellinger.

While students were there, they were able to go to the Greensboro History Museum, view musical performances by different bands, and enjoy food from various food trucks.

“I was happy when a lot of the students on the trip chose one of the international food options. Many of us tried the Jamaican jerk chicken, which was very tasty!” said Suttell.

This event is held yearly. This year’s total of visitors were around 100,000 people, according to the City of Greensboro Facebook page. (Let’s get a link for this)

People interested in attending next year’s festival, any future opportunities, or even fancy studying abroad, contact Suttell at [email protected]. His office Is also located in Stanley Library 102B.

With that being said, there will be a faculty-lead trip to Costa Rica in May of 2026 if students would like to attend, contacts will be at the end of the story.

For the Costa Rica trip in May contact Suttell or Chekka Lash at [email protected].