Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC

The central grassy area on the National Mall in Washington DC, ringed by the various Smithsonian museums and monument and normally empty, is filled with tents right now as the Smithsonian sponsors its annual free Folklife Festival.

Each year the Smithsonian Institution picks some cultures from around the world to showcase, with the focus this year on three distinctly different cultures: Wales (or Cymru, pronounced "kum-ree" in Welsh); musical traditions from the Hispanic Americas; and oral traditions of African-American culture.


I made a quick stop there on Wednesday and it was a pleasant diversion, with some engaging musical performances and some interesting foods from the featured cultures. With that said it lacked the sheer ambition of the Silk Road-themed festival of 2002, the last time I attended, which spotlighted a large number of cultures from the Middle East to the Far Eastern Orient with a huge variety of elaborate exhibits and demonstrations.

Welsh Folk Dancing
After quickly scarfing down some Welsh stew and salad, we watched a performance of Celtic music where they talked volunteers from the audience through the moves of a simple Welsh line dance.

This cute little girl went through the dance with an accommodating lady while her family watched from the audience:



Afterwards we went quickly through the Welsh crafts exhibits, where it was interesting to watch Caitlin Jenkins, a ninth-generation clay potter, create a pot in a matter of minutes from a lump of clay on her potter's wheel.


Las Americas: Salon de Baile
The only thing we had time left for was to watch part of a performance by a Tejano band, Los Texmaniacs from South Texas. While I prefer country music, the music had an infectious beat and would have been fun to dance to.

I made a short video from a clip I recorded using the HD video function of my new Canon digital SLR. The song here would have been a fun polka; conjunto is an accordion-based fusion of German polkas with Northern Mexican rancheros.



The Verdict
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival this year has some fun elements and is worth an hour or two of your time, or perhaps more if the exhibits and music particularly appeal to you. Otherwise they make a nice addition to a visit to the museums and monuments on the Mall, depending on the weather, and the food is tasty if a little expensive.

The easiest way to get there is by Metro, as the Smithsonian station will land you right next to the tents.

2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival
National Mall
Washington, DC
Dates: Wed. June 24 - Sun. July 5 (closed Mon-Tue/June 29-30)
Times: 11am-6pm daily, with some special evening performances after 6pm [schedule]
http://festival.si.edu/