Recommended Visit in DC: Smithsonian National Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival http://www.festival.si.edu/ is a special annual event sponsored each June-July by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage celebrating cultural traditions around the world. The Folklife Festival includes daily and evening music and dance performances, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling and discussions of cultural issues. The themes of the 2009 program will be: Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture, The Americas: A Musical World and Wales Smithsonian Cymra. Plan on eating lunch or dinner at the festival - the food is great and reflects the themes!

Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture will examine how African American oral traditions have shaped American culture. From poetry to storytelling, from journalism to debate, the program will include performances and interactive programs designed to inspire, and to give insight into the aesthetics of language.

The Americas: A Musical World will feature outstanding artists from the United States and Latin America representing the rich diversity of musical styles in the United States and throughout the Americas, including Puerto Rican bomba, plena, and jíbaro music, Mexican son music from various regions, mariachi music, Colombian vallenato, joropo, and currulao, Dominican merengue típico, bachata, and salve, Chilean cueca, tonada, and nueva canción, Venezuelan música llanera, Paraguayan polca, Guatemalan marimba, and Salvadoran chanchona music.

Wales Smithsonian Cymru will celebrate the culture of Wales, examining the language, literature, crafts and occupational skills, music and cooking, and a wide range of contemporary arts. A focus will be on sustainable living and climate change with an explanation of how materials continue to be refashioned, recycled, and reinvented to meet modern demands and to continue to connect Wales to the world.

The festival is located on the National Mall, between 7th and 14th Streets in Washington, DC. Parking around the Mall is extremely limited, so the best way to get to the festival is by Metro. The closest stations are Smithsonian, Federal Triangle and National Archives. It will be held June 24-June 28 and July 1-5, 2009. from 11 AM to 5:30 PM. Evening events begin at 5:30 PM Admission is free. During the Festival, you may call (202) 633-7484 to hear a recorded description of daily events.