Middle Atlantic Folklife Association

The Middle Atlantic Folklife Association (MAFA) is a professional association supporting folklorists and others concerned with traditional folk culture in the mid-Atlantic region It serves Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. MAFA members are engaged in a full range of activities to study, document, interpret, present, fund, teach, encourage, and advocate for traditional cultural expressions in the region. MAFA supports this diversity of approaches to folklife through a number of services to its constituents, including professional development, resource identification/access, and communication among different sectors of the field. MAFA encourages folklife studies and the presentation of traditional culture, through collaboration with communities interested in documenting and perpetuating their traditional ways of life. Through advocacy with community groups, MAFA members seek to mitigate threats to traditional culture. The publications, meetings, and on-line distribution list/group of MAFA offer a forum for the exchange of information on public folklore programs, research projects, events, and critical issues, as well as opportunities for research and employment in the field of folklore.