| Visitors to the 37th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival will experience the sights and sounds of Appalachia, Scotland and Mali. The 10-day Festival, presented outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets, will be held Wednesday, June 25 through Sunday, June 29 and Wednesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 6. Admission is free.
“Appalachia: Heritage and Harmony” is one of the events in the yearlong celebration of the “Year of Appalachia,” commemorating the 75th anniversary of the “Bristol Sessions.” The sessions refer to recordings made of Appalachian musicians, including the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, in the Tennessee-Virginia border town of Bristol in 1927. Those commercial recordings brought old-time ballads, string and mountain music to broad audiences across the United States and established the beginnings of the country music industry. The region around Bristol encompasses portions of Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and West Virginia. Festival performances will include bluegrass, old-time music, African-American traditions, blues, gospel, ballads and occupational songs. Participants will range from master practitioners like National Heritage Award-winner Ralph Blizard to young up-and-coming performers like 18-year-old West Virginia fiddler Jake Krack. There will be a pickin’ porch where visitors and participants can play music and dance. Foodways demonstrations will include chicken dishes, bean recipes, canning, apple butter making, fried pies and stack cakes. This program is produced in cooperation with the Birthplace of Country Music Alliance and East Tennessee State University, and with support from the Recording Industries Music Performance Trust Funds and Norfolk Southern Railroad. |
http://www.folklife.si.edu. [1] During the Festival, call (202) 633-9884 to hear a recorded description of daily events. For general Smithsonian information, call (202) 357-2700 (voice) or (202) 357-1729 (TTY).
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, inaugurated in 1967, celebrates folk culture with people from across the United States and around the world. The Festival typically includes daily programs of music, song and dance, crafts and cooking demonstrations, storytelling, workshops and narrative sessions for discussing cultural issues. The Festival, which attracts about 1 million visitors a year, is produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and co-sponsored by the National Park Service.