Folklife Festival - Now?

Here I was, with a full blown diatribe set on the folly of the Smithsonian holding their annual Folklife Festival in conjunction with the Fourth of July weekend. Good thing I took a second look at it. Because this year the temperature may end up being unseasonably mild. Of course, you might be taking an ark to get there, but Washington, DC's never ending rain may give us a a bit of a break from the usual summer heat. Close thing there; I almost ended up like Steve Martin in LA Story when he screws up as a weatherman by prerecording the weekend's weather.

But, while my rant may be foiled this year, I'm not wrong. DC in the summer is unbearably hot. I know, I know, historical purists get mad at me if I say DC was built on a paved over swamp. It really wasn't. Except for that small part called the Mall. Residents long ago learned not to spend time downtown if they don't have to. Congress pretty much shuts its doors for August. Abraham Lincoln sensibly decamped to the high ground of the Soldier's Home for his summers. The whole reason the neighborhood around the zoo is named Cleveland Park is because that's where Grover Cleveland hung out. Even foreign governments got into the act. Notice the total lack of Embassies near the seat of power. Pierre L'Enfant may have envisioned the Mall being lined with foreign delegations, but a new nation could not afford to risk a war to force Europeans to build their Embassies there. Because I'm pretty sure that's what it would take. I mean, thanks to our Canadian friends for throwing us a bone and moving there in the 1980s, but what were you thinking?

So why, Smithsonian, why? Why must you hold your Folklife Festival every year in a sweltering DC summer? Was January in Buffalo already taken? It can't be because you're afraid no one will come. The Festival is a great event, that people will happily come to any time of year. Witness the Cherry Blossom Festival. It's mobbed, and they just throw a few tents up and let people come look at pink flowers. Can't you guys do it in the fall, when it's nice out? You don't need the Fourth of July as anchor. Develop some confidence! You can stand on your own. And it's not like DC needs to attract more visitors around the Fourth anyway.

It's a bummer, because the Folklife Festival really is worth it. Generally, I abhor crowds. I skipped out on possibly the most historic Inauguration of my lifetime this year. I last about ten minutes at the Cherry Blossoms before I contemplate a cooling dive into the stagnant waters of the Tidal Basin. I haven't made it down to a Fourth of July since I was in college, and that probably had something to do with the keg we smuggled to the base of the Washington Monument. But every year I brave the heat, the crowds, and the Smithsonian's increasingly weak lineup. And every year, despite my whining, it's worth it.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival - At least it's not about Lincoln

I know we're haven't even reached the Cherry Blossom Festival yet, but the Smithsonian recently announced the cultures that will be spotlighted in this year's Folklife Festival. So let's start the ball rolling on this one. After all, it's never too early to plan you summer vacation.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an annual event held on the National Mall for two weeks every summer, sandwiched around the Fourth of July weekend. For those that haven't made it yet, I strongly recommend it. Every year, the Smithsonian picks a few cultures (generally three) and sets up exhibits celebrating them. They normally will include music and theater; concessions of that culture's food; demonstrations of arts, crafts, and cooking; storytelling; and so on. Except for the fact that it's a mile from the sun in mid-summer in DC, it's a great time and I look forward to it every year.

This year, the Smithsonian will feature the culture of Wales, Latin American Music, and African American oral traditions. I have to admit that I'm a bit underwhelmed by the choices this year, but I'll give it a shot. I may be scarred, as the first Folklife Festival I ever attended was the incredible Silk Road exhibition in 2002, which dealt with a series of exhibits on cultures from Venice to Japan. It was very clever, especially the way they tied in similarities in each culture linked by the common experience of being on the Silk Road. There was a unifying theme, and the Festival as a whole benefited from it.

Since then, it seems to have been simply a hodgepodge of groups thrown together. I guess this year's choice of the Welsh makes sense. Wouldn't want to leave them out. After all, in the last few years, they've exhibited Northern Ireland; Kent, England; and Scotland. Watch out, Isle of Mann, they're coming for you next! And I do enjoy Latin American music. I enjoyed it in 2006 as Nueva Musica: Latino Chicago. I enjoyed it in 2005 as Nueva Musica: Music in Latino Culture. I even enjoyed in 2004 as, well, the exact same thing. I know the Smithsonian is trying to push the Smithsonian Latino Museum, and that's great, but can we pick some element of Latino culture besides the music? The third, Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African American Culture, is as yet too ill defined for me to form much of an opinion. Clearly, the Smithsonian is trying to get the ball rolling on the new Museum of African American History and Culture. Fair enough, we'll see what the exhibit entails when it debuts.

I'm still a fan of the Folklife Festival, and will no doubt visit it several times this year, but I get the sense the Smithsonian isn't even trying anymore. What happened, folks? Did Silk Road take too much out of you? Let's maybe think about next year have more of a unifying theme than "Three groups who have been dumped upon by history."