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• Photo by Walter Larrimore, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Staff and interns congregate for a daily production meeting.
• Brandy and Sarah (participant hospitality volunteers) make sure the hundreds of Festival participants and staff stay comfortable and well hydrated during their breaks.
• (L to R) Shyra, Jeannette, Stella, Mary, and Laura (participant staff) coordinated the travel and lodging of over 700 program participants and delegates.
• Barbara helps keep staff and interns like Karla limber and relaxed through their long hours of work.
  Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Dave, a long-time volunteer, makes sure that the Iverson Mall Line Dancers have a clean dance floor for their performance in the Panorama Room tent of the Citified program.
• Information Booth volunteers help visitors find their way around the Festival site and schedule.
• Campus and Community program interns Helen, Daisy, Kate, Mary Ellen, and Silvia pose next to the University of Missouri display area.
• Kurt and Betty, Campus and Community program curators, take a short break in the shade of one of the program tents.
• Scott, Campus and Community program lead volunteer, readjusts some tent siding.
• Cristina, Campus and Community program coordinator, was quick to respond to the needs of over two dozen featured projects.
• Elizabeth, Campus and Community program intern, introduces one of the Smithsonian U presentations.
  Photo by J.B. Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Mary Ellen and Vicky, Campus and Community interns, change the signs for program events.
• Hailey, Campus and Community program assistant, sets up chairs for a performance.
• Annika, Campus and Community intern, catches a quick water break in between tasks.
• Claudia takes a break from her Festival administrative duties to present Dr. Sonny Ramaswamy’s demonstration of cooking with insects in the Campus and Community Test Kitchen.
• Helen, a visiting Fellow from Queensland, Australia, helps to set up the Campus and Community program area.
• Jeff Place, Marilyn, Katie, Max, and Heather, the archives and audio documentation team, take a break in the Participant Hospitality area.
• Volunteer loggers Paul Motsuk and Violet Cavacchi helped with the audio documentation at the Festival stages.
• JB Weilepp, Festival photographer, sets up a shot in the Citified program area.
• Saadi, web intern, en route to checking the audio recorders at the performance stages.
• Mike, Marianna, and Shawn, video interns, plot out their shooting schedule for the day.
• Becky, video intern, sets up a shot at a performance.
• Marianne, video intern, documents a performance.
• Charlie, video director, with photographers Jaclyn and Francisco, outside the Morrill stage during an evening concert.
• Walter, Charlotte, Stephanie, and Josh of the Festival photo documentation team plan the day’s shooting schedule from their trailer in the Staff Compound.
• Inside the documentation trailer with the video team (L to R): Ariel, Becky, Ashlee, Marianne, Marianna, Suzanne, and Jeannie. This crew has produced almost three dozen new videos—and counting!
• Inside the documentation trailer with Sean, Kelsey, Paul, and Pruitt.
• Sound designer/supervisor Steve, along with sound engineers Colleen and Dean, wait outside the Campus and Community Morrill stage.
• Sound engineer Allison and stage manager Sissy at the back of one of the performance tents.
• Sound engineer Henry takes a short break between sets.
• Sound engineer Dean uses a fan to keep cool during the Festival heat.
• Kyle, Ace, and Keith take a break from their stage managing and sound engineering duties.
• Shop foreman Mike and carpenter Brea.
• Inside the Tech Trailer in the Staff Compound: Jason (warehouse coordinator), Tyler (carpenter), Meghan (supply coordinator), Callie (supply intern), Angelita (assistant to the technical director), Brea (carpenter), Linda (exhibit worker), Lisa (exhibit worker), Josh (warehouse assistant).
• Brian and Eddie (Festival services) pose with Kevin (electrician) after making a delivery of ice to one of the concessions stands.
• Callie, Meghan, and Illian—the Supply team—procured everything from clothes hangers to goat pens to planters to duct tape for the program teams.
• Angelita (assistant to the technical director), Alex (assistant technical director), and David (tent company) had to deal with very challenging conditions, including a storm that knocked down many of the program tents.
• Curator Jim Deutsch and electrician Cartland Berge.
• Beverage concessions were in big demand during the hot days of the Festival.
• Slater Williams, Roland Diggs, and Tyrone Diggs are “Arabbers,” Baltimore fruit vendors who have been a Festival fixture since the 1970s.
• Curators Olivia and Diana stash some supplies in the Citified program trailer.
• Citified program team: Diana (curator), Kate (intern), Jasmine (intern), Camee (intern), Olivia (curator), Malik (intern), Jennie (intern).
• Anacostia Community Museum staff Robert and Josh pose with Citified participant AB the Pro, AB’s sister, and Folklife curator Diana.
• L to R: Jennie (Citified intern), Melvin (volunteer), Robin (volunteer), Charnise(volunteer), Diana (Citified lead volunteer), and Parker (volunteer).
• Citified program team: Malik, Camee, David, and Diana.
• Soyini, volunteer coordinator.
• Volunteer staff and production interns Carly, Catherine, and Laura prepare packets of meal tickets for the volunteers.
• Carly, an intern helping with volunteer coordination, models the new apron used by Festival greeters.
• Volunteer Mel shows off one of the 2012 Festival guides.
• Festival information booth volunteers take a break in the shade.
• Paul (sound engineer) and Johanna (curatorial intern) take a break with other interns and volunteers working on documentation in one of the performing tents.
• Marketplace interns Katie and Laura organize merchandise for display.
• Marketplace intern Breanna also contributed to the Festival Blog.
• Rachel Delgado, Marketplace coordinator.
• Marketplace associates prepare to assist customers.
• Vince handles Marketplace paperwork in the back of the house.
• Sandy, web designer, produced over one hundred new pages of content on the Festival website.
• Patricia and Sam, Festival bloggers.
• Ariel, Festival Flickr group administrator.
• Mark (concert curator), Lucy (production intern), and James (social media and curatorial intern) were headquartered in the admin trailer of the Staff Compound.
• Creativity and Crisis dynamic duo Anna (coordinator) and Arlene (curator).
• Hundreds of volunteers helped to fold and unfold The AIDS Memorial Quilt every day.
  Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Creativity and Crisis program team: Anna, Arlene, Mary, Lindsay, Kate, Emma, Katie, Zakiya.
  Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Festival and Names Project team: Josue, Gert, Eileen, Anna, and Father Joseph.
• Creativity and Crisis participants and interns: Beauty, Lobolile, Emma, Kate, and Unathi.
  Photo by Walter Larrimore, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Tyler and Anna get a good view of The Quilt from the crane.
• Inside Admin1 Trailer (L to R): Barbara, Brenda, David, Ramona, Gaya, Marquinta.
• Festival administration team: Eileen, Karla, and Marina.
• Admin2 Trailer production interns: Olivia, Lucy, James, Laura, Marina, Karla.
• Pam (left) kept our computers running and networked. Marquinta made sure the participants and staff were paid and fed.
• Cheese-off judges Barbara, Reshma, Cristina, and Arnie rate the competitors in this special Campus and Community event.
• Dan, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage director, tries his hand at flag dancing during a Creativity and Crisis demonstration.
• Fran, volunteer massage therapist, shows off her moves during the flag dancing demonstration.
• Jeff, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage archivist and author of the new Woody at 100 publication, is interviewed live from the Festival by Neil Conan, host of NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.”
  Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• A well deserved break for interns Kate, James, Diana, Malik, and Mark.
• Brandon (video documentation intern) and Judith (Text Kitchen volunteer) prepare to “read names” at The Quilt display of the Creativity and Crisis program.
• Secretary Clough surveys the storm damage with Festival staff Barbara, Steve, and Dan.
  Photo by Charlie Weber, Smithsonian
• Barbara and Steve field countless calls in the aftermath of the storm.
• Daisy was among the many staff and interns who prepared the igloos that were in heavy demand during the hot days of the Festival.
• Brea transports an igloo out to one of the program areas.
  Photo by F.T. Eyre, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Sound designer/supervisor Steve bikes between the performance venues.
• Kate enjoys a game of checkers in the Citified program area.
  Photo by Pruitt Allen, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• As the mercury reaches 105 degrees, production manager Reshma prepares to fry an egg on the outdoor flooring of the Staff Compound.
• The Folklife Festival fried egg.

The last of the equipment has been moved off the National Mall, and as we prepare to turn the page to focus our attention on the 2013 programs, we appreciate the incredibly talented and hardy participants with whom we collaborated on this summer’s Festival. We also tip our hats in profound gratitude and respect to our staff, interns, and volunteers, who endured both record high temperatures and a destructive thunderstorm with grace, resilience, and energy.

Here are some of the faces of the hundreds of folks who worked behind the scenes every day to produce the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Images by Festival photographers Pruitt Allen, Harold Dorwin, F.T. Eyre, Francisco Guerra, Walter Larrimore, and JB Weilepp are indicated in the captions. All other images provided by Betty Belanus, Josue Castilleja, Sojin Kim, Helen Klaebe, James Mayer, Jennie Terman, and Charlie Weber.