The National Mall is being flooded with people taking part in what is billed as an annual "rite of cultural democracy" - the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.
This year's rite promises such things as absorbing stories of the African-American experience, told by the likes of North Carolinian Mitchell G. Capel, aka "Gran'daddy Junebug;" the distinctive music of Mexico's La Huasteca region, performed by Los Camperos de Valles; and the dynamic sounds of Only Men Aloud, 20 guys from Wales who mix folk songs, hymns and Barbra Streisand showstoppers with aplomb.
"So far, the weather looks great, and we anticipate more than 1 million visitors," says festival program manager Steve Kidd.
Those visitors will be exposed to music, poetry, crafts and more from hundreds of performers in this 43rd annual festival, which has three distinct areas of focus: African-American oral traditions; Latino music; and Welsh culture.
"Latin music has been featured before," Kidd says, "but this is the first time we have drawn from throughout the hemisphere, including Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and all over the United States."
Participating ensembles, most of them recording artists showcased on the Smithsonian Folkways label's Tradiciones/Traditions series of recordings, include Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, an ensemble that has been going strong for nearly five decades in Los Angeles.
Giving Voice: The Power of Words in African-American Culture is a collaboration between the festival and the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, which is set to open on the Mall in 2015.
Storytellers and actors will help illustrate how the roots of African-American culture are found in oral traditions. There will be re-creations of a barbershop, a beauty parlor, front steps and a radio station where stories will be told.
One way of communicating and spreading solidarity during the time of slavery was through song, especially spirituals. One of the festival's concerts, featuring the Heritage Signature Chorale, will celebrate the legacy of spirituals.
This program Friday will be led by the choir's founding director, Stanley Thurston. "African-Americans didn't read at first, so stories were told through music," he says. "Spirituals, in the early days, were used to tell biblical stories and also the history of slavery and oppression."
