Festival Blog

Shadow puppetry, like many ancient performance arts, is traditionally used to tell folk stories, literary tales, or religious epics.

Every year I look forward to the Folklife Festival—there’s always a ton to do, and I love learning and experiencing new cultures from around the world. When I found out this year was going to be the Basque country, I immediately marked my calendar.

Last month, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage hosted the symposium Cultural Sustainability in the Age of Globalization along with the Alliance for California Traditional Arts and the Royal Textile Academy of Bhutan.

What do you remember after you leave a large festival at closing time? The sights, sounds, and smells? Or all of the Styrofoam cups and containers on the ground?

In the nineteenth century, American pioneers pushed through the boundaries of the nascent nation to undeveloped western lands, following their dreams of economic opportunity, self-determination, and prosperity.

I met Begoña Echeverría and Andrea Bidart at the Basque Club in Chino, a city in Southern California’s Inland Empire, an hour’s drive from Los Angeles.

What happens to people when they move? What happens to the host cultures and the cultures they leave behind? How do others respond, and how might we respond more constructively?

Quick wits, a keen ear, a powerful voice, and a thousand rhymes—these are the instruments of the Basque bertsolari.

The Folklore Society of Greater Washington is dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional folk arts in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.