Tucson Meet Yourself is different from other large events: it is a “folklife” festival. This means that our focus is on presenting artists and communities that carry on living traditions rooted in a group’s own definition of identity, artistry, and cultural significance.

The festival has been held each year in Downtown Tucson, Arizona since 1974. TMY was founded by University of Arizona folklorist and anthropologist Dr. James “Big Jim” Griffith, who in 2011 was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts with a prestigious recognition as a “National Heritage” treasure. TMY is the signature annual event of the Southwest Folklife Alliance. SFA produces a number of other programs that help support, honor and promote the traditional arts and heritage practices of the region and that compliment the festival year-round.

TMY is building a community that respects traditions, culture, diversity and honors the land and environment (“sense of place”) unique to the desert borderlands. We have several ongoing partnerships with other organizations in our region dedicated to fostering compassion, integrity, and stewardship of the land and our Southwestern cultural ways.

Source: Tucson Meet Yourself