Introduction
For forty-eight years, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has gathered people from around the globe on the National Mall to celebrate the best of the human spirit. In response, millions of visitors have been inspired, challenged, and delighted by culture bearers manifesting the ordinary and the astounding. The Folklife Festival's history is a remarkable one in which creativity and culture have transformed grass, gravel, and trees into a vibrant landscape for exploration and exchange.
The 2014 Festival added another chapter to that history with programs illuminating the cultural heritage of China and Kenya. With song and story, movement and craft in tow, exemplars of traditional genres demonstrated practices that continue to resonate in our modern world. The alchemy of their presence and the curiosity of visitors is what drives the Festival.
The 2014 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-6) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 12th Street, south of the National Museum of Natural History (see
site plan). It featured two programs and special events including the Rinzler Concert.
The
2014 guide included participant lists for each program, a site plan, and daily schedules.
The Festival was co-presented by the Smithsonian Institution and National Park Service and organized by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
Michael Atwood Mason, Director; Smithsonian Folklife Festival: Sabrina Lynn Motley, Festival Director; Cristina Díaz-Carrera, Production Manager; Education and Program Support: Betty Belanus, Education Specialist, Evaluation Coordinator; Olivia Cadaval, Cross-Cultural Programs Coordinator; Marjorie Hunt, Family Activities Consultant (Kenya); Diana N'Diaye, Curator; Arlene Reiniger, Intern Coordinator; Arnie Malin, Foodways Coordinator; Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections: Jeff Place, Archivist; Stephanie Smith, Photo Documentation Coordinator; Dave Walker, Audio Documentation Coordinator; Cecilia Peterson, Project Archivist; Greg Adams, Processing Archivist
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage Advisory Council
Ellen McCulloch-Lovell, Chair; Cathy Sulzberger, Co-Chair; Bill Ivey, Dawn McCall, Susan Norton, Anna Maria Ochoa, George Papagiannis, Frederik Paulsen, Jennifer Cover Payne, Ann Elizabeth Sheffer, Deborah Wong, Council Members; Libby O'Connell, J. Scott Raecker, Honorary; Patricia Shehan-Campbell, G. Wayne Clough, Richard Kurin, Michael Atwood Mason, Daniel Sheehy, Ex Officio
National Park Service
Jonathan B. Jarvis, Director; Robert Vogel, Superintendent, National Mall and Memorial Parks
The Festival was supported by federally appropriated funds; Smithsonian trust funds; contributions from governments, businesses, foundations, and individuals; in-kind assistance; and food, recording, and craft sales.