Since 2000, this 400-year-old Guatemalan tradition has also been practiced in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., by the Guatemalan communities here.
We’re capping off the 50th anniversary of the Folklife Festival with special discussions and activities about our work behind the scenes and your favorite Festival memories
It starts with psychedelic patchwork of yellows and pinks. From there, broad strokes with a wadded paper towel form abstract shapes of white and black. Suddenly, a clown has emerged.
See an interactive display of photographs from early years of the Folklife Festival and our 50th anniversary.
The Folklife Festival returned to the National Mall today after a rainy and truncated Thursday, bringing artists, radio broadcasters, dancers, clowns, and more to the public.
The anticipation is palpable in the Circus Science tent. Young visitors strain forward from their perches on chairs two sizes too big for them, or from front-row seats on the grass.
In a discussion session called “Girlhood on the Move,” participants from Texas via Mexico and Washington, D.C., via Central America shared their feelings on the bold differences between the childhood experiences of mothers and daughters.
The danger of organizing a major event around the Fourth of July: a constant threat of summer storms.