Rain drove the Folklife Festival inside today, but that didn’t stop the participants of Perú: Pachamamafrom sharing their traditional knowledge and artistic talents with the public. We are extremely grateful to our colleagues at the National Museum of the American Indian for opening up the Rasmuson Theater for our performances and the Potomac Atrium for our Marketplace, craft workshops, and storytelling circle. On your next visit, we encourage you to learn more about Peruvian history in the museum’s new exhibit, The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire.
If you visited the Festival today, add your photos to our Flickr group!
Before the rain clouds covered D.C., Marinera Viva!!! charmed the audience at Friday night’s evening concert. Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Opening the Friday night concert, dancers from Afro-Peruvian group Tutuma performed in glittering sashes and hats. Photo by Michelle Arbeit, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
As part of a special tactile tour co-organized with the Smithsonian Accessibility Program, visitors who are blind or have low vision were able to meet Peruvian weavers and embroiderers, learn about their art, and feel the textiles. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Ángel Piminchumo showed visitors how to weave miniature caballitos de totora rafts, a tradition in Huanchaco, Peru. Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Ayacucho farmers performed regional music in a special “Carnaval” session. Photo by Michelle Arbeit, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Chicha artists MONKY signed prints and postcards for sale in the Festival Marketplace. Photo by Francisco Guerra, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Members of the Wachiperi community from the Amazon shared songs they learned from their elders about birds and other natural elements. Photo by Michelle Arbeit, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Tradiciones Carumeñas performed the danza Sarawja in the Rasmuson Theater. Photo by Michelle Arbeit, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Weavers from El Centro de Textiles Tradicionales del Cusco danced to music from their region. Photo by Michelle Arbeit, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Marinera Viva!!! showcased the flirtatious Marinera norteña to an ecstatic audience. Photo by Pruitt Allen, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
With a zero percent chance of rain on Sunday, the Folklife Festival will return to its regular home on the National Mall. Join us as we celebrate the changing musical, culinary, and artistic traditions of Peruvians living in the United States during our first Festival Community Day!
Georgia “Ellie” Dassler is a media intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and a student at the College of William & Mary, where she studies anthropology and teaching English to speakers of other languages.
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