Weekend Recap -- Folklife Festival

We joined the PBS types and tourists down at the National Mall yesterday to take in the Folklife Festival, which every year features arts, crafts, music, displays and talks from three different cultures. This year it's Northern Ireland, Mekong River, and the Roots of Virginia.

We spent most of our time in the Mekong section of the Fest, as we know the least about that part of the world. The Mekong River touches on China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam and others. A few pictures:

The first picture is some sort of parade or procession. The guy on right had nice muscular hairy thighs which doesn't come across in the picture. Hey -- I'm just appreciating culture.

Building a dugout canoe. One has a better appreciation for the name "dugout" after seeing it done.













Making a basket. My kneecaps would explode out of my legs if I tried to squat at that angle. He made it look comfortable. One of the things I found puzzling about Asian clothing is that many ceremonial garments we observed were heavy, made with unbreathable silk and ornate embroidery that covered the wearer from head to toe. The lad here seems sensibly dressed for the climate. We wondered why the culture would evolve favoring hot ceremonial outfits in a tropical environment.



Weaving silk. This was beauty, both in design of the process, in the fabric and execution. I got dizzy starring at it.












Moving on to the Roots of Virginia, a Native American doing a "Grassland Dance." His costume, with its green ribbons, is supposed to represent the grass dancing in the wind.

He was a good dancer, though, as you can see below, he looked like he should've been in the Northern Ireland part of the festival.








Finally, below, the LTR and I in front of the Smithsonian Castle.