2011 Festival Video

Introduction to the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and overview of Festival history.

This video features Olivia Cadaval, the curator of the 2011 Folklife Festival program Colombia: The Nature of Culture. She hasRead More

This video features James I. Deutsch, the curator of the 2011 Folklife Festival program The Peace Corps: Fifty Years ofRead More

This video features Mark Puryear, curator of the 2011 Folklife Festival program Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is.Read More

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is often described as the “world’s largest cultural conversation,” and as a “museum without walls.” FirstRead More

In 2011, researchers for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival traveled to the Orinoco Plains of Colombia. Their van broke down, leadingRead More

Here is a preview of Chirimía la Contundencia, a music ensemble that plays chirimía, a traditional genre of Colombia’s northernRead More

Our friend Carlos Alberto Beltrán R. won’t be coming to the Festival, but his tradition will. He sent us thisRead More

 Legendary trombone player Fred Wesley talks about playing music during the era of the civil rights movement. Fred Wesley andRead More

Legendary trombone player Fred Wesley talks about his beginnings as a musician. Fred Wesley and The New JBs perform everyRead More