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• Dancers, stilt-walkers, and steel drum players from UniverSoul Circus made a spectacular entrance during the Opening Ceremony, and at the end paraded down the National Mall to welcome visitors to the Festival grounds.
  Photo by JB Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• The circus is a hard act to follow, but Christylez Bacon, a progressive hip-hop artist from Washington, D.C., continued to delight the crowd with his beatboxing skills.
  Photo by JB Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Dennis and Ralph Zotigh (Kiowa) commenced events at the Story Circle with an opening song traditional to the Piscataway Indian Nation.
  Photo by Daniel Martinez, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• The Hebei Golden Eagle Acrobatic Troupe from China got things rolling in the Open-Air Ring.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Roy and PJ Hirabayashi, both NEA National Heritage Fellows, demonstrated their Japanese American interpretations of ancient taiko and invited young visitors to pound the drums as well.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• What is a clown? Veteran and new performers will alter your perceptions with insight to the history, lifestyle, and tricks of clowning.
  Photo by Stephen Kolb, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• BeauSoleil band leader Michael Doucet joined Los Texmaniacs for a cross-cultural discussion about music and migration, “Accordions on the Move.”
  Photo by Daniel Martinez, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• An acrobat from Circus Bella in San Francisco shows off the art of hand balancing at the Ralph Rinzler Stage.
  Photo by Stephen Kolb, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Richard Kurin (left), longtime director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and current Smithsonian Acting Provost, interviewed Jim Morris, one of the cofounders of the Folklife Festival in 1967. “The Festival broke so many rules!” Kurin said. “And Jim, you were the lead rule breaker.”
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• The Wallenda Family Troupe has been walking high-wires for eight generations—three of which have joined us for the Festival.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click the image above to view full slideshow

Happy 50th birthday to the Folklife Festival! Our jubilee anniversary kicked off this morning with an Opening Ceremony in the Big Top, with speakers from the Smithsonian and the National Park Service and performances introducing both programs, Circus Arts and On the Move: Migration Across Generations.

As we celebrate 50 years of celebrating cultural exploration and engagement on the National Mall, Gabi Tayac of the Piscataway Indian Nation reminded us that people have been gathering here for at least 10,000 years. We are honored to call this space home and open up America’s Front Lawn to communities from across the country and around the world. Here, we are all neighbors.

Join us tomorrow as the festivities continue. National Heritage Fellow Sheila Kay Adams will address some of the newest Americans in a morning Citizen Ceremony, CHELOVE and MASPAZ will lead a screen printing demonstration at their Mural Truck, and the Stars of the Circus will close out the night under the Big Top. Find the full schedule here.

Elisa Hough is the editor for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. She is sunburned but stoked for the next two weeks.