Every year in Washington, D.C., visitors to the National Mall are treated to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which celebrates the culture and traditions of communities across the United States and the world. This year’s festival in part highlights Asian Pacific Americans.
“This is a program that we talked about for many years,” said James Deutsch, the program curator for the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. “We have done programs on Asian countries. For example in the year 2007 I was the co-curator for a program on the Mekong River which featured five countries – China, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. But we have never done a program on Asian Pacific Americans in the United States.”
The program features music, dance, art, cooking and lectures, all presented under large, open air tents on the large grassy expanse between the U.S. Capitol building and the Washington Monument. Continue here
Source : VOA News
2010 Festival Videos here
The traditional Cambodian “Golden Mermaid” Dance is performed by members of a Maryland-based Cambodian organization on Mekong-American Day at the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
Photo courtesy Smithsonian Institution
Tags: American Culture, Asian American, Folklife Festival, Pacific Islander, Smithsonian