May

Volunteer Opportunities at the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage needs volunteers before, during, and after this year’s Folklife Festival, which will be held on the National Mall from June 26 to July 1.

A group of people, some in pale blue Folklife Festival Volunteer T-shirts, pose behind a row of jarred pickled vegetables.

Photo by Philip R. Lee, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives.

Produced in collaboration with the National Museum of the American Indian, this year’s program, “Indigenous Voices of the Americas,” highlights living traditions of Indigenous peoples throughout the western hemisphere and honors contemporary and traditional creative expressions, celebrations, and community connections. Significantly, programming will mark several museum milestones, including its 20 years on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., 25 years of research and collections care at the Cultural Resources Center in Maryland, 30 years since opening the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City, and 35 years since Congress passed the National Museum of the American Indian Act.

Volunteers perform various duties, which may include audio-visual documentation of performances and general administrative and production support, conducting audience surveys and assisting stage managers. Individuals with experience in accessibility services and Spanish and Indigenous language skills are especially encouraged to apply. Volunteers who are under 18 must have a signed parental permission and minors under 16 can volunteer if they have a parent, guardian, or mentor present. The Festival also supports Student Service Learning and Community Volunteer Hours (volunteers must bring their forms with them).

Most activities will take place on the National Mall between Third and Seventh streets. Daytime programs by musicians, dancers, cooks, artisans, storytellers, and others will run from 11 a.m. through 5:30 p.m. On select evenings, live music on the Festival’s Four Directions Stage will run until 7 p.m. As always, the event is free and open to the public.

More information on volunteer opportunities, including applications, is available on the Festival website or by contacting Volunteer Coordinator Charish Bishop at bishopc2@si.edu or 202-633-6527.