800-chair set up for the Motor City Stage

Barbara Strickland, associate director for finance and administration, heads out to survey the Festival grounds.

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Director Dan Sheehy (left) and Folklife Festival Director Stephen Kidd

This team coordinated the participation of over 450 volunteers through the run of the Festival: (clockwise from top center) Volunteer assistant Kerry Fogarty, intern Allison Fischbach, volunteer coordinator Jennifer E. Harris, and intern Paula deMan.

Participant hospitality lead volunteer Marilyn Davis (left) with art director Krystyn MacGregor. Marilyn made sure that all the Festival participants had a safe, comfy, and well provisioned place to rest and take breaks. Krystyn oversaw all of the Festival design from publications to text panels to concessions signage.

Alex Saunders (right), Festival assistant technical director, takes a break with staff from the Smithsonian crew.

Angelita Thomas, assistant to the Festival technical director, takes a break in the Participant Hospitality tent. Barbara, a returning volunteer, provided massages that restored the strength and energy of Festival participants and staff.

Eddie Mendoza, Festival services manager, gives a lift to one of the food concessions staff.

Kristen Jones and Andrew Bautista coordinated the transportation of over 500 Festival participants and staff.

Betty Belanus and her interns worked on making the Festival as accessible as possible for visitors and participants with disabilities and on evaluating various aspects of the Festival: (standing, left to right) Interns Hester Clarke, Casey Carlson and Lauren Lauzon, and Accessibility Aide Brendan Ziebarth;( seated, left to right) Interns Meghan Burke and Jeremy Krones, and Curator Betty Belanus.

This crew coordinated the lodging and travel of over 400 participants and contract staff: (from left to right) Housing coordinator Jeannette Lara, Peace Corps participant assistant Meredith Adhikari, Rhythm and Blues participant assistant Anna Kaplan, participant coordinator Laura Smith, and Colombia participant assistant Diana Bossa Bastidas.

Senior graphic designer Zaki Ghul

Foodways coordinator Arnie Malin with Colombia program intern Carolina Restrepo in the Colombia foodways kitchen

María Angelica Rodriguez Ibañez facilitates and interprets for María Florinda Coy Castilla.

Peace Corps program intern Evangeline Mee facilitates a Tongan foodways demonstration by Elena Borquist Noyes and Mele Vaikeli

Marketplace craft sales coordinator Rachel Delgado-Simmons (right) and craft sales assistant Ashley Matthews

Colombia program coordinator Cristina Díaz-Carrera

Eric Griffis and Harry Kidd from the video documentation set up for a program at one of the R&B stages.

Festival video director Charlie Weber and his team produced dozens of videos before, during, and after the Festival.

Festival video team (front to back): Video assistant coordinator Michael Headley, Sophia Dagher, Rafadi Hakim, and Brandon Callahan

Eileen Wayner, special events coordinator, gives a lift to Mariachi Los Amigos, which includes Smithsonian Folkways summer interns Marcos Ruedas (left) and Jessie Vallejo (backseat), as well as Folklife Center director Daniel Sheehy (not visible).

(left to right) Volunteer Reilly Rosbotham, Smithsonian Folkways sound production supervisor Pete Reiniger, and audio coordinator/head archivist Jeff Place

Photo documentation team (left to right): Aurelie Beatley, Rebecca Weil, Samantha Hawkins, Kathryn Mitchell, and photo coordinator/archivist Stephanie Smith

Claudia Telliho, financial management specialist, keeps things running from inside the Admin1 trailer on the National Mall.

Ramona Dowdal, Folklife Center volunteer, organizes participant meal tickets from inside the Admin1 trailer.

Production management Intern Catherine Somerville holds the fort in the Admin2 trailer.

(front to back) Education intern Jeremy Krones, communty and online engagement fellow Ariel Fielding, and administration intern Kathryn Conlin in the Admin2 trailer.

Festival blogger Van Luong with senior graphic designer Josue Castilleja.

Pargo and radio coordinator Andy Derbyshire takes a break in the Admin2 trailer.

IT specialist Pamela Rogers took care of the staff computing and internet needs down on the National Mall.

Tim Bergstrom and Alaric Strickland of the tech crew take a drive through the site.

R&B lead volunteer Zakiya Williams changes the daily performance schedule.

Sound engineer Henry Cross at the controls of one of the R&B program stages.

Festival director Stephen Kidd with R&B program participants Dr. Mable John and William Bell

Folklife Center curators Betty Belanus, Diana N'Diaye, Marjorie Hunt, and Olivia Cadaval take visiting colleagues on a tour of the Colombia program.

Production manager Reshma Sinanan-Hill and pargo and radio coordinator Andy Derbyshire

Staff, interns, and volunteers convene for the daily 9 a.m. production meeting.

Security officer Donald Person with Sassy the Mule in the Colombia program area.

Trasan Moore, festival administrative assistant, visits Sassy the Mule in the Colombia program.

Yasmine Lee, counter and surveyors lead volunteer, reviews the daily visitor numbers with festival director Stephen Kidd.

(left to right) Production manager Reshma Sinanan-Hill, special events coordinator Eileen Wayner, and Colombia participant assistant Diana Bossa Bastidas

Festival director Stephen Kidd reviews the plans for the final two days with the program curators, sound designer/supervisor Steve Fisher, CFCH director Dan Sheehy, associate director of finance and administration Barbara Strickland, and community and online engagement fellow Ariel Fielding.

Colombia program team, from left to right: (back row) Jessie Vallejo, program curator Olivia Cadaval, Amauta Firmino, María Angelica Rodriguez Ibañez, program coordinator Cristina Díaz-Carrera, (front) Kerry Kaleba, Jeanette Gaida, Marie Mencher, Sarah Doochin, Christina Obiajulu, Mary Hausle, Carolina Restrepo, and participant assistant Diana Bossa Bastidas (not shown)

Peace Corps program team, from left to right: program coordinator Jason Bowers, Meghan Hiscock, Ryann Dear, Irina Rubenstein, Evangeline Mee, Martina Venturi, Moriah Childers, Melanie Moore, Emily Shinay, program curator Jim Deutsch, Kim Stryker, and participant assistant Meredith Adhikari (not shown)

R&B program team, from left to right: Sheryl Sears, Mylah Howard, Charise Richards,Tucker Foltz and Zakiya Williams (kneeling), Meagan Carrick, curator Mark Puryear and program coordinator Arlene Reiniger, NMAAHC staff Dorey Butter, and R&B participant assistant Anna Kaplan

Marty Thoman and Terry Meniefield from the tech crew get a move on site break-down after the close of the Festival.

Stacking chairs from the four major stages on the last day of the Festival

Jim Deutsch and Jason Bowers work with Tyler Nelson and Michael Lavrich to dismantle structures from the Peace Corps program.

The constant sounds of music have ceased, and the aroma of cooking food no longer wafts over the National Mall. At this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, more than 300 people who are the prime bearers of their cultural traditions shared their music, dance, crafts, foodways, and stories with over 1,083,000 visitors.

Festival Director Stephen Kidd comments: “This was a great year. The participants’ enthusiasm at the closing ceremony on Monday testified to the fact that they enjoyed their visit and felt appreciated, and we were proud to host them and share our model of the Festival. The outpouring of pride from the Colombian American community in their reception of the Colombia program was unparalleled. The Rhythm and Blues program was hugely popular. Visitors were able to hear the stories behind the music and its musicians, and everyone has had personal experiences with the songs that were performed, and they enjoyed dancing to it. I have never seen the Festival’s dance floors so consistently full, and the dancers so diverse and synchronized! The Peace Corps program brought an enthusiastic cadre of returned volunteers to the Mall, and they were able to reunite with other Peace Corps volunteers, and more importantly, share with their family and friends the experiences that they had during their service. It was a perfect way to celebrate the Peace Corps’ fiftieth anniversary.”

Most notable was the energy of the Festival, as visitors and participants expressed great curiosity and empathy toward one another in their interactions. “My lasting image of the Festival is that of the joy on visitors’ faces,” said Dr. Kidd. “The Festival team outperformed themselves and really pulled the event together. This kind of work demands that everyone just work hard and pitch in, and I am proud of our team, many of whom are involved behind the scenes, for making this Festival a success.”

Though the Festival event is over, please return to to the blog, as we are continuing to post more photo galleries, video, audio streams, and additional material from the 2011 Festival.

The image gallery above shows just a few of the hundreds of staff, volunteers, and interns that worked behind the scenes at the 2011 Festival. Photos by Josue Castilleja, Ariel Fielding, Zaki Ghul, Sojin Kim, Van Luong, Krystyn MacGregor, and Eric Cesar Morales.

Van Luong is the festival blogger for the 2011 Folklife Festival.