Volunteers are critical to the success of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Working closely with Festival staff, they contribute to a variety of duties including assisting and informing visitors, conducting surveys, supporting participants, and helping with audio, photo, and video documentation. These are just a few of the opportunities available. Year after year, volunteers return to the Festival because it offers great fun, great people, and lots to learn.
The volunteer application for the 2026 Festival will be available here in the spring. Until then, please sign up for the mailing list below so we can alert you as soon as the system is ready.
