SFF23OZ is the acronym that the planning team has been using to refer to the Ozarks program being planned for the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival to be held in late June and early July on the National Mall in DC.

Missouri State University is serving as the lead organization in the Ozarks on this massive planning effort, and MSU’s Ozarks Studies Institute is the leading university unit on this initiative. 

Here are some updates of progress to date: 

• The core planning team (Tom Peters, Craig Amason, Kaitlyn McConnell, Rachel Besara, Holly Kouns, and Laura French) holds weekly Zoom meetings with the Folklife Festival team at the Smithsonian.
• Emalee Flatness, an MSU student studying Ozarks Studies as a minor, is doing an internship this semester to help with the planning work for SFF23OZ. Emalee is an accomplished singer and musician, and she is very knowledgeable about the musical talent and trends in the entire multi-state Ozarks region.
• Tom Peters will make a short presentation to the MSU Board of Governors at their meeting on Friday, February 18, 2022. 
• Fundraising for this major national program is proceeding. Funding will involve sponsorships, monetary gifts of all sizes, and in-kind contributions. If you are interested in learning more about sponsorships and funding opportunities, please contact Tom Peters (TPeters@MissouriState.edu or 309-660-3648). 
• Craig Amason, Tom Peters, Kaitlyn McConnell and others continue to reach out and engage in brainstorming with various other stakeholders in the multi-state Ozarks Region, which includes portions of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Illinois. For example recent and upcoming visits include the Cherokee Nation in Thalequah, Oklahoma, a meeting with Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe in Jefferson City, Missouri, the Eddie Mae Heron Center Museum in Pocahontas, Arkansas, and the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism in Little Rock. Trips are being planned in the near future to the Ozark Folk Center State Park in Mountain View, Arkansas, to Rolla, Missouri, to Stockton, Missouri, and elsewhere.