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• Emma Clarke from Sailor Circus impressed the crowd showing strength and agility on the lyra (aerial ring), suspended in the Arts and Industries Rotunda.
  Photo by Hatum Saenz-Painemilla, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• San Francisco Kulintang Legacy dancers accompanied the musical group, paying tribute to Filipino American master musician Danny Kalanduyan, who earned an NEA National Heritage Fellowship for his commitment to continuing the art form.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Bo Razon from San Francisco Kulintang Legacy demonstrated ancient music of the Philippines on the kutiyapi. Traditionally unamplified, the instrument has two strings: one for a drone and one for a melody.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• The role of coaches in the circus is just as important at the performers. You can see both working together each day in the Circus School.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• New to the Festival this week, Bindlestiff Family Cirkus from New York City brought another layer of costume and theatrics to the Circus School.
  Photo by Art Pittman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Using paper towels, brushes, and his fingers, California-based artist Robert Burridge sped through four paintings of circus scenes during a demonstration in the Marketplace. “I like to start with a mess,” he says.
  Photo by Hatum Saenz-Painemilla, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• A group of funders from Explore St. Louis traveled to D.C. to support their hometown troupe, Circus Harmony, in the Big Top.
  Photo by Brian Barger, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Sailor Circus bowed to a standing ovation in the Big Top.
  Photo by Brian Barger, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• In the second and final session of the Washington Sound Museum, Christylez Bacon (right) fused together hip-hop and the music of India with the help of violinist Nistha Raj and tabla player Anirudh Changkakoti.
  Photo by Hatum Saenz-Painemilla, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Mick Moloney (center), Billy McComiskey, and the Greenfields of America closed out the drizzly day with Irish American music and dance from the Mid-Atlantic region, a blur of accordions and step dancers.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click on the image above to view full slideshow

The danger of organizing a major event around the Fourth of July: a constant threat of summer storms. Today the Folklife Festival was reduced to the Big Top and the Arts and Industries Building as the rest of the grounds were thoroughly saturated. Visitors still had opportunities to experience intimate conversations, musical performances, and circus productions.

Our schedule may still shift tomorrow as the rains peter out, but you’ll be guaranteed to see a Citizenship Ceremony inducting the newest Americans, Bolivian festival traditions, and an open rehearsal by Cirque des Voix, a professional circus troupe accompanied by an orchestra and choir.

Do you have your own photos to share? Add them into our 2017 Flickr group!

Elisa Hough is the editor for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.