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• Kormassa Bobo (left) and her daughter and apprentice Saigay Sheriff shared dance traditions from Liberia that they continue in Philadelphia. Their presentation was organized in collaboration with the Philadelphia Folklore Project.
  Photo by Daniel Martinez, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Kim Hawkins demonstrated the art of applying clown makeup. You can catch the same session every morning at 11 a.m. in Clown Alley.
  Photo by Daniel Martinez, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• MASPAZ and CHELOVE completed the Mural Truck today, before flying off to Honolulu, Hawai‘i, to participate in Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s ‘Ae Kai Culture Lab. MASPAZ’s side pays tribute to his Colombia roots.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• CHELOVE’s side of the Mural Truck honors her mother and her motherland of Java, Indonesia.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• On UniverSoul Circus’s last day at the Festival, they took the chance for a photoshoot on the steps of the National Museum of Natural History.
  Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Circus Bella heads back to San Francisco after today, but they gave one last juggling spectacular before leaving.
  Photo by Pruitt Allen, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Storyteller Noa Baum, an immigrant from Israel, returned for her second year of On the Move and captivated the Story Circle audience.
  Photo by Stephen Kolb, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Sarah Chapman prepared crêpes backstage at the Cookhouse before demonstrating crêpes Florentine for the audience.
  Photo by Vivianne Peckham, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• Students from Sailor Circus stretched and trained in an open rehearsal at the Circus School.
  Photo by Vivianne Peckham, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
• The day’s antics ended with a pie fight! Clown Alley captain Jeff Raz took one in the face from a young visitor. The pies are actually filled with shaving cream, since whipped cream can damage costumes.
  Photo by Pruitt Allen, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click the image above to view full slideshow

Happy Independence Day! The Folklife Festival celebrated the diverse voices, traditions, and art of the United States today—as we do every day. Here are some serious and silly moments from activities on the National Mall.

The Festival will be closed tomorrow to let our participants take a well-deserved rest. We’ll be back on Thursday with returning and new participants in Cirucs Arts and On the Move. Viajeros de las Americas will begin their alfombre de asserín (sawdust carpet) on the Migration Walkway, Kichwa Hatari will offer Quechua language classes, and NEA National Heritage Fellows Mick Moloney and Billy McComiskey will present Irish American music in the evening dance party.

Have you been taking photos too? We hope you’ll add them into our Flickr group!

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