The 41st annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival kicks off this Wednesday, June 27th on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Each year the cultural event features music and arts from several world regions. This year’s global goodness will focus on the Mekong River, Northern Ireland and the state of Virginia. Quite an interesting culture combo!
The Mekong River: Connecting Cultures feature will celebrate the diversity of the region and its ties to daily life in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the Chinese province of Yunnan. Programming includes crafts, cooking demonstrations, ritual specialists and artistic and musical performances as diverse as Vietnamese opera, Thai shadow puppetry and Cambodian classical dance.
Northern Ireland’s Smithsonian exhibit area will feature sessions on agriculture and fishing, as well as a collection of pipers, rhymers and mummers. The Roots of Virginia Culture presentation will include delegations from Virginia’s eight Native American tribes, West Africa, and Kent County, England, who together will represent the Native, African American, and English roots of the state.
The festival runs through July 8. Don’t forget to check out Gadling’s huge round-up of other musical summer festivals.