On July 1, 1967, the Smithsonian welcomed visitors to the Festival of American Folklife. The four-day event was held on the National Mall, on the lawn between the U.S. National Museums. With performances, demonstrations, workshops and panel discussions, the Festival presented some 60 craftspeople and 20 performance groups, all free of charge, to an appreciative audience. The artists were largely from the Southeastern United States, but also included Navajo, Hopi, and Osage from the Southwest, and an Alaskan ivory carver. By the time the Festival closed on July 4, the event had attracted over 431,000 visitors, more than doubling previous peak attendance to the Smithsonian on the holiday weekend. The public wrote letters of praise to the Institution, and Members of Congress and journalists, both print and electronic, called for the Festival to become an annual event.

And so it did. For its second year the Festival added a state program (Texas) and a printed program book, similar to the catalogues produced for other Smithsonian exhibitions.