Festival Blog

With new leadership in this moment of transition and possibility, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian has sought feedback and perspective.

International participants of the One World, Many Voices program discuss their experiences with federal, state, and community language policies.

The last vestiges of the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival have been removed from the Mall, but the long-term planning required to mount next year’s Festival is already well under way.

White House butler and maître d' Eugene Allen served eight US presidents. In 1986, he told First Lady Nancy Reagan that it was time he retired.

White House workers often become very close to presidential families. Eugene Allen served as maître d' for eight presidents from 1952 to 1986. In this video excerpt, recorded in October 2007, he recalls his friendship with President Jimmy Carter.

On August 16, 2013, theaters will premiere Lee Daniels’ The Butler, a historical drama that follows the experience of an African American butler in the White House during eight presidential terms from 1952 to 1986.

Artisan Levente Lehel Sütő’s family has been making traditional furniture since the end of the 16th century. At the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Sütő shed light on his craft tradition and its significance for Hungarian cultural identity.

The Will To Adorn program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival explored the identity and culture of African Americans through the lens of dress.

Earle Bannister, a Baltimore tailor, talks to presenter Althea Grey-McKenzie about the history of voguing, a dance style that originated in the African American and Latino American LGBT ballroom communities of the 1980s.