Alongside the sounds of the Appalachian fiddle, the African-American gospel choir, the good old banjo and the guitar, Nepali sarangi tunes will fill the air at the 67th National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia.

Since 1934 the festival has been celebrating the multi-cultural heritage of America, from that of the people who’ve lived here for centuries to that of newer immigrants. Organised by the National Council for Traditional Arts, the festival this weekend (October 7-9) is showcasing hundreds of ethnically diverse artistes including sarangi player Prem Raja Mahat and several other Nepalis.

National Council executive director Julie Olin says that to her knowledge, this is the first time Nepali-American artistes are performing in the festival.

Prem Raja Mahat, renowned back home in Nepal for his sarangi music and folk songs, is also gaining popularity here in the US. The National Council for Traditional Arts heard of him through newspaper articles and the National Public Radio. Olin says she and other colleagues then went to check him out in Baltimore and were just amazed at his talent and dedication to his love of music.

“When a great artist comes to this country, it really enriches us all and we are very pleased to do what we can to spread this beautiful music,” says Olin. She hopes that Mahat will have a whole new audience at the festival and generate the public’s interest in what she calls a fascinating instrument.

Olin, who plays the fiddle, says that as unique as the sarangi is, she also once in a while finds similarities in it with the fiddle sounds of the Appalachian mountains.

Mahat, now settled in the US, says he wants to open a Nepali music and cultural centre here. Although he works as a restaurant manager in Baltimore, he says he will always be a musician first. Apart from his solo performances in and around Baltimore, he says he has also created the Himalayan Music Group. The group includes Nepali artistes like him who are now living in the US and they will also be performing at the festival. The artistes are Rabi Lamichane, Yaman Shrestha, Sunil Upreti, Raj Kappor, Shishir Shrestha, Suresh Chandra Pradhan, Mohan Thapa and Hari Shivokoti.

In a culture that embraces such varied music and traditions — from bluegrass, blues, boogie-woogie piano, Cajun music, Irish flute to Mexican Mariachi and Khmer dance — Mahat says Americans will now also have Nepali ethnicity to celebrate. He says his team will showcase the timeless charm and magic of diverse Nepali traditions, from those of the Terai to those of the Himalayas.

Apart from the sarangi, they will also play murchanga, tungana and other traditional Nepali musical instruments and perform ethnic dances in full regalia.