In this year when we are preparing to celebrate our nation's Bicentennial in 1976 many of our efforts are being directed toward reviewing, interpreting and displaying the contributions made by all our peoples to the political, technological, cultural and social development of our country.

Throughout the nation appropriate activities will be staged in 1976 to commemorate the people and events that made our history. Obviously, not all Americans will be able to visit all these sites. However, millions of Americans will visit our nation's capital this year and next. The estimates on the number expected during the Bicentennial reachas high as 35 million.

Those Americans fortunate enough to visit Washington this year will share in "the great national family reunion" represented in the ninth annual Festival of American Folklife. We in the National Park Service are proud to be a part of the Festival and believe it represents what the folk of America are all about ... where they come from and their own unique contributions to our way of life.