Folklife Festival Marketplace Features Artworks, Textiles and Music

The 2014 Folklife Festival will offer a variety of items for purchase from this year’s programs “China: Tradition and the Art of Living” and “Kenya: Mambo Poa,” as well as a “best of” section featuring items from past festivals. Proceeds from purchases directly support Festival artists and musicians and the Festival itself. The Marketplace is located on the National Mall in front of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. During the Festival, it will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On July 6, 2014, it will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Festival will be held Wednesday, June 25, through Sunday, June 29, and Wednesday, July 2, through Sunday, July 6, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. Admission is free. Festival hours are from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day, with special evening events beginning at 6 p.m. The Festival is co-sponsored by the National Park Service.

Items for sale from the “China: Tradition and the Art of Living” program will include various types of paper-cuttings ($13), clay figurines ($5-$24), sachets ($12), batiks ($10-$48) and delicate hand-made Miao embroidery ($400-$9,000) created by Festival participants. Beautiful hand-made kites by one of the most famous kite-making masters, Ha Yiqi, will be available in limited quantities ($20-$40). Also offered  will be mini-books—The Pocket Confucius, The Pocket Mencius, The Pocket Tao and The Pocket Te—filled with the wisdom of Chinese philosophy and thinking ($7 each).

The selections from the “Kenya: Mambo Poa” program will include handcrafted artworks such as animal sculptures ($18), jewelry ($18.50) and housewares such as doorstops ($14.50) made from beached flip flops by Festival participant Ocean Sole. Also for sale will be Ajiri tea ($10) and coffee ($20 per pound). Children items’ will include the traditional Kenyan game Bao ($33.50) and small model dhows ($13). 

About the Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, inaugurated in 1967, honors people from across the United States and around the world. With approximately 1 million visitors each year, the Festival unites presenters and performers in the nation’s capital to celebrate the diversity of cultural traditions. It is produced by the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.    

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