Visitors returned to the National Mall today for the start of week two of the Festival. In the morning, members from the Aaniiih Nakoda College rose a tipi among the Earth Optimism × Folklife tents, accompanied by ceremonial drumming, singing, and a crowd.
We learned how to make invasive catfish rolls and pitmasters joined forces in the name of UAE BBQ at Festival Foodways. Kids tried their hands at a drawing workshop at the Next Chapter Studio while parents tasted wine with Napa Valley growers in the Marketplace. The warm evening ended with a performance by local son jarocho collective Son Cosita Seria and Smithsonian Folkways favorites Los Texmaniacs, featuring La Marisoul.
The morning on the Mall started with a tipi-raising ceremony with newcomers for the second week of the Earth Optimism × Folklife program from Aaniiih Nakoda College in Montana.
Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Another new arrival this week: the electric Ford 150 Lightning, which supplies Festival Foodways with greens from its “frunk,” or front trunk.
Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Visitors showed up early for short films from the United Arab Emirates in the Pocket Cinema and Folklife Studio.
Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Need a pick-me-up? Emirati participants are preparing traditional coffee every hour that visitors can sample.
Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Artisans from Uganda arrived this week to demonstrate the process of making bark cloth as a sustainable resource.
Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Visitors declared their commitments to a more sustainable future.
Photo by Julie Byrne, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Mohamed Al Jneibi has offered daily guided listening sessions of classic and modern Arab music.
Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Multinational, multilingual poets with Rooftop Rhythms in the United Arab Emirates shared beautiful verses, insights to their creative processes, and many laughs.
Photo by Phillip Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
MacArthur Fellow Kate Orff and CNN climate correspondent Bill Weir got beamed in for a conversation about the role of oysters in coastal restoration.
Photo by JB Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
Bajo sexto player Max Baca, singer La Marisoul, and accordion player Josh Baca as Los Texmaniacs brought the best of Texas to the National Mall.
Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
The evening concert features Sunny Jain’s Wild Wild East and REBOLU from the New Colombian Music movement at the Ralph Rinzler Stage at 6:30 p.m. See you on the dance floor!
Annabella Hoge is the 2022 Folklife Festival media intern, and Elisa Hough is the editor at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Together they are Team Top Ten.
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