Fifteen years ago we began our Folklife Festival as a way to further intercultural understanding within our nation. We planned these festive events in the belief that increased knowledge about the creativity of a people leads to a fresh appreciation and admiration. We felt that as we celebrated the differences between groups in the U.S. - regional, occupational, ethnic and racial groups - we were contributing to the unity of our country.

The idea took hold immediately. Letters poured into the Smithsonian after the 1967 Festival. They came from children - one as young as three who after expressing his gratitude for the Festival confessed that as he wrote his older sister guided his hand. Retired military officers, local family groups and visitors from throughout the U.S. who chanced on that first Festival - all wrote to thank the Smithsonian for a gift of unpretentious human artistry. The press spoke passionately and the Congressional Record carried encomiums from both the House and Senate. The message - make the Festival an annual event.