2011.07.08: July 8, 2011: Smithsonian Folklife Festival Expected to Draw a Million Visitors
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2011.07.08: July 8, 2011: Smithsonian Folklife Festival Expected to Draw a Million Visitors
Smithsonian Folklife Festival Expected to Draw a Million Visitors
This is the 45th folklife festival to be held on the National Mall, a wide expanse of open space between the U.S. Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial which is lined with museums. White tents set up on the mall house an eclectic assortment of programs and exhibits, including craft and cooking demonstrations as well as concerts. "My favorite part is seeing things from other countries and listening to music," says Jim Yuengert, who works nearby. "It's a great opportunity to showcase things going on worldwide and within the U.S. and to open people's minds."
Smithsonian Folklife Festival Expected to Draw a Million Visitors
Smithsonian Folklife Festival Expected to Draw a Million Visitors
Dora Mekouar | Washington, D.C.
This year's event spotlights Colombia's rich bio-cultural diversity, the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps and the powerful influence of rhythm and blues music in American popular culture.
Hundreds of participants come to the nation's capital for the 10-day event, which generally draws about a million visitors, according to Smithsonian spokesperson Becky Haberacker.
"The festival is a way to showcase cultural traditions from around the world," she says. "And it's a way to allow people to share their culture and their experience."
This is the 45th folklife festival to be held on the National Mall, a wide expanse of open space between the U.S. Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial which is lined with museums. White tents set up on the mall house an eclectic assortment of programs and exhibits, including craft and cooking demonstrations as well as concerts.
"My favorite part is seeing things from other countries and listening to music," says Jim Yuengert, who works nearby. "It's a great opportunity to showcase things going on worldwide and within the U.S. and to open people's minds."
The Peace Corps program includes dance demonstrations from Ukraine, Botswana and the Philippines along with food samples from Morocco, Peru and Ghana. One of the most popular events, which occurred early in the festival, was a rhythm and blues performance by the musical group Soul Train. In the Colombia section, visitors can witness a ceremonial Amazonian dance or sample sweet corn arepas.
"It's very nice to show the kids and everybody how people in Colombia live," says Henry Rodriquez. A native of Bogota who now lives in Virginia, he brought his 19-year-old daughter to the festival. "It's very important for the new generation to see their background, to see their roots."
This first-hand cultural exchange is at the heart of the folklife festival experience.
"Instead of visiting an exhibit someone else has done, this is done in the first person," says Haberacker. "Visitors are hearing directly from the tradition bearers; the people who make the crafts, who cook the food or sing the songs."
Although the event draws visitors from around the world, most who attend come from around the United States.
Phil Jones made the trip from North Carolina. Having lived abroad for over a decade, it's a way for him to reconnect with other cultures again.
"Until you speak someone's language, eat with them, pray with them, you understand nothing about the rest of the world and your own culture," says Jones. "Americans fear other cultures because they don't know anything about them. They are more alike than different and when you see them, you're less likely to be mistrustful or wary of other cultures."
This spirit of mutual cultural understanding is exactly what Smithsonian organizers hope people gain from the experience, especially since many who attend won't have a chance to visit the foreign countries they learn about at the festival.
"We hope people walk away with a better appreciation of cultures from around the world and at the same time share a bit of America or wherever they're from with the participants," says Haberacker. "So it's a bit of a cultural exchange we hope people come away with."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2011; 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps; The Third Goal
When this story was posted in July 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Peace Corps Featured at Smithsonian If you weren't able to attend in person, then take a look at our photo essay of Peace Corps' featured program at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington DC to see how the festival showcased the work of Peace Corps volunteers in economic development and income generation; ways volunteers have helped support local groups to help educate communities; and food and cooking traditions that have played a role in the Peace Corps experience. |
| Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest. |
| How Volunteers Remember Sarge As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge." |
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