Jan 24-29 2011 - 27th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering - Elko, Nevada

The 27th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, will take place January 24-29, 2011, in Elko, Nevada. As part of its ongoing effort to build understanding among herding cultures worldwide, the Gathering will welcome horsemen, musicians and craftsmen from the Hungarian puszta, the largest contiguous grasslands in Europe, home to the legendary Hungarian horsemen, csikos, who have tended and defended their herds of grey longhorn Hungarian cattle since the Magyars first crossed into the area from the Carpathians a thousand years ago. Renowned for their horsemanship and animal husbandry, they have much in common with the American cowboy.

"We will explore common ground and new ground between these two herding cultures," explains Charlie Seemann, Executive Director of the Western Folklife Center, which produces the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. "Through panel discussions, performances of pastoral music and poetry, workshops and an exhibition about Hungarian csikos, we hope to build a bridge between cultures that may seem very different on the surface, but that share profound similarities."

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is the nation's largest annual celebration of cowboy culture. For six days the community of Elko will welcome thousands of cowboys and cowgirls, poets and musicians, artisans and scholars, rural and city people—all of whom share a love of the American West and the artistic traditions of ranching and cowboy culture. The Hungarians will join more than 60 poets and musicians from the U.S., Canada and Australia, who will perform on eight stages at five different venues throughout Elko. Highlights include a dinner theater production featuring Ramblin' Jack Elliott, who will perform songs from his 2010 Grammy-award-winning recording of traditional blues music, and the youthful Marshall Ford Swing Band, featuring Emily Gimble (granddaughter of Texas fiddle legend Johnny Gimble). They will join many Gathering favorites, including Ian Tyson, Waddie Mitchell, Baxter Black, the Quebe Sisters, Wylie and the Wild West, Paul Zarzyski and Wallace McRae.

Tickets to the 27th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering can be purchased online at www.westernfolklife.org or by calling 775-738-7508 or toll-free at 888-880-5885. For more information about the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, visit http://www.westernfolklife.org/.