Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States.[1] It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fourth of July (the U.S. Independence Day) holiday.[1] The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage produces the Festival.[1]

Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2014

The Bhutan section of the 2008 festival.

The Festival is free to the public, encouraging cultural exchange.[1] Attracting more than one million visitors yearly, the two-week-long celebration is the largest annual cultural event in the United States capital. Usually divided into programs featuring a nation, region, state or theme, the Festival has featured tradition bearers from more than 90 nations, every region of the United States, scores of ethnic communities, more than 100 American Indian groups, and some 70 different occupations.[1]

The Festival generally includes daily and evening programs of music, song, dance, celebratory performance, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling, illustrations of workers' culture, and narrative sessions for discussing cultural issues.[1] Cultural practitioners speak for themselves, with each other, and to the public.[1] Visitors participate, learning, singing, dancing, eating traditional foods, and conversing with people that the Festival program presents.[1]

List of programs by year

The regions and topics featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival since its inception in 1967:[2]

No.YearTopics
532019[3] Social Power of Music[4] (Festival shortened to two days and downscaled due to effects of the 2018–19 United States federal government shutdown.[5])
522018[6] Armenia: Creating Home;[7] Catalonia: Tradition and Creativity from the Mediterranian;[8] Sisterfire: Roadwork 40th Anniversary Concert[9]
512017[10] Circus Arts;[11] On The Move: Migration Across Generations;[12] 50 Years, 50 Objects: Storied Objects from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival;[13] 50th Anniversary: 1967-2017[14]
502016[15]Basque: Innovation by Culture;[16] Sounds of California[17]
492015[18]Perú: Pachamama[19]
482014[20]China: Tradition and the Art of Living;[21] Kenya: Mambo Poa[22]
472013[23]Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival; One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage; The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style and Identity[24]
462012[25]Campus and Community: Public and Land-grant Universities and the USDA at 150; Citified: Arts and Creativity East of the Anacostia River; Creativity and Crisis: Unfolding The AIDS Memorial Quilt[26]
452011[27]Colombia: The Nature of Culture; Peace Corps: 50th Anniversary; Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is[28]
442010[29]Asian Pacific American Connections: Local Lives, Global Ties; México; Smithsonian Inside Out; Special Events: Haiti, Ralph Rinzler Memorial Concert, George Wallace, Smithsonian 3D[30]
432009[31]Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture; Las Américas: Un Mundo Musical (The Americas: A Musical World); Wales Smithsonian Cymru[32][33]
422008Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon; NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond; Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine[34]
412007Mekong River: Connecting Cultures; Northern Ireland at the Smithsonian; Roots of Virginia Culture
402006Alberta at the Smithsonian; Been in the Storm So Long: New Orleans Evening Concert Series; Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions; Nuestra Música: Latino Chicago
392005Food Culture USA, Forest Service, Culture, and Community; Oman: Desert, Oasis, and Sea; Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture
382004Haiti: Freedom and Creativity from the Mountains to the Sea; Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture; Water Ways: Mid-Atlantic Maritime Communities
372003Appalachia: Heritage and Harmony; Scotland at the Smithsonian; Mali: From Timbuktu to Washington
362002The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust, including exhibits on Venice, Istanbul, Samarkand, nomads, Xi'an, truck art from Pakistan, and Nara[35][36]
352001New York City at the Smithsonian, Masters of the Building Arts; Bermuda Connections
342000El Rio, Tibetan Culture: Beyond the Land of Snows; Washington, D.C.: It's Our Home
331999Celebrating New Hampshire's Stories; Gateways to Romania; South Africa: Crafting the Economic Renaissance of the Rainbow Nation
321998Wisconsin; Rio Grande/rio Bravo Basin; Baltic Nations: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Pahiyas: A Philippine Harvest; Folkways 50th
311997Mississippi Delta; African Immigrant Folklife; Sacred Sounds
301996Iowa-Community Style; American South; Working at the Smithsonian
291995Cape Verdean Connection; Russian Roots/American Branches; Heartbeat: Voices of First Nations Women;Czech Republic: Tradition and Transformation
281994Masters of Traditional Arts: National Heritage Fellowships, The Bahamas, Thailand, Culture and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
271993US-Mexico Borderlands, American Social Dance, metro Music, Kids' Stuff
261992New Mexico, Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas, Workers at the White House, the Changing Soundscape in Indian Country
251991Family Farming in the Heartland; Indonesia: Forest, Field, and Sea; Land in Native American Cultures; Roots of Rhythm and Blues: the Robert Johnson Era
241990US Virgin Islands, Senegal, Musics of Struggle
231989Hawaii, Cultural Conservation: American Indian Program; "Les Fetes Chez Nous": France and North America, Quincentenary Program: The Caribbean-Cultural Encounters in the New World
221988Ingenuity and Tradition: The Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Cultural Conservation: American Folklore Society Centennial; Migration to Metropolitan Washington: Making a New Place Home; Music from the Peoples of the Soviet Union; Music Festival Stage: Bluegrass
211987Michigan; Cultural Conservation and Languages: America's Many Voices; Metropolitan Washington
201986Tennessee; Japan; Cultural Conservation: Traditional Crafts in a Post-industrial Age; American Trial Lawyers; 20th Anniversary Music Stage
191985Louisiana; India: Mela!; Cultural Conservation: Makah and Puerto Rican mask makers; African American cornrowers, Kmhmu craftsmen, Seneca basket makers, Appalachian balladry, Cajun music, cowboy music, song, and poetry, Irish music, Mayan marimba music Mayan Indian weaving
181984Alaska, The Grand Generation: Folklore and Aging, Black Urban Expressive Culture from Philadelphia
171983New Jersey, France, Occupational Culture: Flight, NEA: National Heritage Fellowship Awards
161982Oklahoma, Korea, Children's Program, National Endowment for the Arts Program
151981Regional America: Southeastern U.S. music and crafts, Northeastern music and dance; Native American Program: Ojibwa Indians; Old Ways in the New World: South Slavic Americans; Energy and Community: Adobe architecture; Children's Program; Folklore of the Deaf; American Tent Show, National Endowment for the Arts Program
141980Old Ways in the New World: Caribbean Americans, Southeast Asian Americans, Finnish Americans; Energy and Community: Folk housing and energy efficiency, community activities, food preservation; American Talkers: Auctioneers, pitchmen, street criers
131979Energy and Community: Native American architecture; Folklore in Your Community; Children's Program; Medicine Show
121978Native American Community: San Juan Pueblo of New Mexico; Occupational Community: Organ builders, sleeping car porters, sharecroppers; Energy and Community: Oil and coal industry workers; Ethnic Community: Ellis Island and American Immigration; Regional Community: Chesapeake Bay, Smith Island; Mexican Communities
111977Virginia; Native American Program: Ojibwa, Tolowa, San Juan Pueblo, Navajo, Seneca; Working Americans: Folklore in Your Community
101976Regional America: Northeast, Great Lakes, South, Upland South, Heartland, Great West, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest; Native American Program: Tribes from the Northeast, Southeast, Southern Plains, Prairie, Northern Plains, Northwest Coast, Southwest, Plateau, Basin, Northern California, Arctic; Working Americans; Old Ways in the New World; Children's Program; Family Folklore
91975Regional America: Northern Plains, California Heartland; Native American Program: Iroquois Confederacy; Working Americans: Railroad workers, aircraft employees, truckers, seafarers; Old Ways in the New World: Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Japan, Mexico; African Diaspora: Jamaica, Ghana, Haiti; Children's Program; Family Folklore
81974Mississippi; Native American Program: California tribes; Working Americans: Graphic artists, radio operators (amateur/commercial); Old Ways in the New World: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Tunisia, Greece; African Diaspora: Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Nigeria, Caribbean; Children's Program; Family Folklore; Performance: Evolution of American Folk Music
71973Kentucky; Native American Program: Northern Plains Indians; Working Americans: Plumbers, carpenters, electricians, stonemasons, lathers, bricklayers, plasterers, millwrights, operating engineers, pipe fitters, sheet metal workers, steam fitters; Old Ways in the New World: Britain, Yugoslavia
61972Maryland; Native American Program: Southwest Indians; Labor Program: ILGWU, lithographers and photoengravers, carpenters and joiners, molders and allied workers; Performance: Chicago blues, old-time country blues, gospel, First Annual Fiddlers' Convention
51971Ohio; Native American Program: Northwest Coast Indians; Labor Program: Meat cutters and butchers; bakery and confectionery workers; glass bottle blowers; bridge, structural, and ornamental iron workers; Performance: Puerto Rican music and dance, Cajun music, country music, ragtime, shouts, jubilees, work songs, blues, Caribbean music and dance, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, old-time banjo and fiddle music
41970Arkansas; Native American Program: Southern Plains Indians; Performance: Spanish, Irish, and Scottish bagpipers, country, bluegrass music, southern blues, Sacred Harp, Portuguese-American Fado musicians, Chinese dragon dancers, shouts, spirituals, jubilees, string bands, East European folk songs; Crafts: Dairy traditions
31969Pennsylvania; Performance: French singers from New Hampshire and Louisiana, Grand Ole Opry performers, Turkish, Afro-Cuban, Greek singers and dancers, ballad singers, string bands, fife and drum bands, blues, shouts, jubilees, spirituals; Crafts: Sheep shearing and wool processing, corn culture, Seminole Indian crafts, carvers and toy makers, doll makers, blacksmiths, basket maker, potter; Toby Show: Traditional Touring Tent Theater
21968Texas; Native American Program: Lummi Indians; City-Country Area: Blues, bluegrass, jazz, gospel, Cajun, Basque, Indian, dancers, ballad singers; Crafts: Butter churning, sheep shearing, soap, candy, sorghum making, milling
11967Performance: American fife and drum groups; brass bands; string bands; gospel; shouts; jubilees; spirituals; Puerto Rican music; New Orleans jazz; Cajun music; ballads; Mesquakie Indian music; blues; country music; polka music; cowboy songs; clogging; Scottish, Russian, Irish dancers; Chinese New Year's Pantomime; King Island Eskimo dancers; dance of Galicia; Crafts: American basket makers, carvers, doll makers, needleworkers, potters, blacksmith, silversmith, spinners, weavers

Scenes from the 2008 festival
  • Food and drink tents at the Festival
  • Texas section of the exhibit area
  • Texas winemaking tent
  • Interior of a Bhutanese temple erected for the occasion on the National Mall
  • Prayer flags erected on the National Mall in front of the temple
  • Masks and other objects in the Bhutanese craft tent
  • Religious objects in the craft tent
  • Pigment pots in the tent dedicated to Bhutanese traditional painting

References
  1. "Mission and History". Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  2. "Programs by Year". Smithsonian Institution Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on February 27, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  3. "2019 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  4. "Social Power of Music". 2019 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  5. (1) McGlone, Peggy (March 14, 2019). "Smithsonian shrinks this summer's Folklife Festival from 10 days to two". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
    (2) Anderson, Liz (June 30, 2019). "Scaled-down Smithsonian Folklife Festival draws people and culture aplenty". WTOP. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  6. "2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  7. "Armenia: Creating Home". 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  8. "Catalonia: Tradition and Creativity from the Mediterranian". 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  9. "Sisterfire: Roadwork 40th Anniversary Concert". 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 18, 2018.
  10. "2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  11. "Circus Arts". 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  12. "On The Move: Migration Across Generations". 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  13. "50 Years, 50 Objects: Storied Objects from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival". 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 8, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  14. "50th Anniversary: 1967-2017". 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 12, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  15. "2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 7, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  16. "Basque: Innovation by Culture". 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  17. "Sounds of California". 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 19, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  18. "2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  19. "Perú: Pachamama". 2015 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  20. "2014 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  21. "China: Tradition and the Art of Living". 2014 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  22. "Kenya: Mambo Poa". 2014 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  23. "2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 12, 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  24. "2013 Festival Information". 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  25. "2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  26. "2012 Festival Information". 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  27. "2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 9, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  28. "2011 Festival Information". 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  29. "2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 2, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  30. "Festival Programs". 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 2, 2010. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  31. "2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 16, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  32. "A 'one-night' house for America". BBC Wales. April 15, 2009. Archived from the original on April 18, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2009.
  33. "2009 Festival Schedule". Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on July 2, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  34. "2008 Smithsonian Folklife Festival". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  35. The Silk Road: Connecting Cultures, Creating Trust Archived 2008-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
  36. Hart, Hugh (November 14, 2014). "A Jingle Truck Artist Brings The Mobile Art Of Pakistan To America". Fast Company. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
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