The Festival of American Folklife has no strict operative definition. The best statement of its character is the festival itself. A sign at one of the first festivals suggests what I mean. It read: "Folklife is what the people do."

Each year, the gathering of the Festival-the practical organization behind it and the search for participants begins early. It is based on the deeply held conviction that folklife, with all its concomitant lore and art and skills and other riches passed from one person to another, is found inevitably and invariably in every community of people. One need not sail to an exotic island nor venture into far hills to ...