Annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival highlights Ozarks. Here's how to participate from home

Greta Cross, Springfield News-Leader
·6 min read

The annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival is underway, with a special focus on the Ozarks for the first time in the festival's 56-year history.

Held on the National Mall in Washington D.C., the festival began June 29 and will continue through Sunday, July 9, with one day off on Wednesday, July 5. This year's theme, "The Ozarks: Faces and Facets of a Region" highlights the rich history and contemporary lifestyle of the Ozarks through workshops, demonstrations, performances and narrative sessions.

Missouri State University is the festival's primary partner for this year, supplying more than 70 staff members to attend.

Tom Peters, dean of library services at MSU, speaks during the grand opening of the Ozark Room in the Duane G. Meyer Library on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. A partnership between Missouri State University and the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage was also announced during the event.
Tom Peters, dean of library services at MSU, speaks during the grand opening of the Ozark Room in the Duane G. Meyer Library on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. A partnership between Missouri State University and the Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage was also announced during the event.

While the festival is held in Washington D.C., folks can still tune in to most of the programming via live stream. If the live stream doesn't fit into your schedule, don't fret. All of the programming it recorded and available to watch after the fact. Festival programming can be accessed on the Smithsonian Folklife Festival website or YouTube at bit.ly/3Nxm1nI.

To better chronicle the many aspects of the Ozarks region, the festival is organized into four main coverage areas: Celebrations and Gatherings, Stories, Sounds and Show Business, Migrations, Movements and Pathways, and Connections to Land and Place.

Celebrations and Gatherings

"Ozarkers create community across sacred and secular spaces by coming together in times of joy and in times of pain," the festival website states. Throughout the festival, attendees (and those tuning in at home) may learn how community traditions are passed on through exercises like baking and song.

This year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival features a diverse array of different cultural celebrations that encourage attendee participation, including hymn-singing with Mennonite churches from the Ozarks, hula dancing with members of the Hālau Nā Kīpuʻupuʻu hula school in Hawaii and praying to Tengri, an all-encompassing God to believers in Kazakhstan.

Stories, Sounds and Show Business

Music has always been a large part of Ozarks culture, whether it was old-timers singing ballads for folklorists like Vance Randolph and Max Hunter or trained professionals taking a main stage at Silver Dollar City.

Monday's programming kicks off with a discussion about traditional Ozarks ballad singing from 10-10:45 a.m. Musicians Marideth Sisco, Aviva Pilgrim, and Chris Brashear will discuss the history of Ozarks ballads and what makes them different than others in the country. Ballads came to the Ozarks region from Irish and Scottish settlers who initially landed in Appalachia.

More: Life of Ozarks' folk song collector chronicled in book, 'Ballad Hunting with Max Hunter'

A familiar set of voices to Ozarkians will grace the National Mall multiple days during the festival. Mark Bilyeu and Cindy Woolf of The Creek Rocks will perform on Monday from 2-2:45 p.m., Tuesday from 10-10:45 a.m., Friday from 2-2:45 p.m., Saturday from 1-1:45 p.m. and Sunday, July 9 from 3-3:45 p.m., all on the Pickin' Parlor stage.

Up-and-coming Arkansas-based folk musician Willi Carlisle, who has performed in Springfield a number of times, will also perform at the festival. Carlisle will perform solo on Saturday from noon to 12:45 p.m. on the Rinzler Stage and from noon to 12:45 p.m. on the Pickin' Parlor. Carlisle is also participating in several discussions about Ozarks ballads and Arkansas folk music throughout the week.

A piece of Silver Dollar City will even be represented at the festival, with Terry Wayne Sanders performing a comedy show on the Pickin' Parlor stage on Sunday, July 9 from 10-10:45 a.m.

Migrations, Movements and Pathways

One of the reasons the Ozarks are special is because of the countless pathways that have traversed through the region, whether it be Route 66 or the Natchitoches Trace.

A portion of this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival is dedicated to trail building and mountain biking. Throughout the entire festival, attendees may learn how to craft trails using carpentry and dirt-shaping techniques from industry professionals. Each afternoon, mountain bikers Seth Gebel and Mike Schulz will ride along a wooden structure they crafted especially for the festival on the National Mall.

Jane Murr takes a corner along a mountain bike path.
Jane Murr takes a corner along a mountain bike path.

When it comes to cultural migration, several programs center on the Marshallese, natives of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Northwest Arkansas is home to the largest community of Marshallese in the continental United States, with between 15,000 to 20,000 individuals living in the region, according to Arkansas Soul.

The Marshallese Crafts stage is dedicated entirely to programs centered on the Marshallese culture, including boatbuilding, weaving and dancing.

Connections to Land and Place

Caves, ridges, rivers and lakes make up the Ozarks diverse topography, which help support a thriving natural ecosystem.

Rachael West, founder of Eating the Ozarks, is hosting several natural food-centric programs throughout the festival, exploring topics like foraging, herbalism and community agriculture. On Monday from noon to 12:45 p.m. and Thursday from 10-10:45 a.m., West will dive entirely into the Ozarks' "wonderful edible world," sharing recipes made entirely of foraged ingredients.

Rachael West is owner of Eating the Ozarks, which offers seasonal multi-course dinners in a yurt in Reeds Spring.
Rachael West is owner of Eating the Ozarks, which offers seasonal multi-course dinners in a yurt in Reeds Spring.

Bo Brown, director of First Earth Wilderness School and author of "Foraging the Ozarks: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods in the Ozarks," is also hosting several programs during the festival. Every day of the festival, Brown will participate in a discussion of plant knowledge and practice, often with West.

He will also discuss foraging ethics on Monday from 3-3:45 p.m., how to make all-natural teas on Tuesday from 11-11:45 a.m., the history of winemaking in the Ozarks on Thursday from noon to 12:45 p.m., among other related topics.

Countless other programs will be held throughout this week. A full festival schedule is available online at festival.si.edu/schedule.

Ozark Mountain Daredevils headline Fourth of July concert

John Dillion of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils laughs during Springfield's second annual Earth Day Music and Sustainability Festival, at Jordan Valley Ice Park on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
John Dillion of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils laughs during Springfield's second annual Earth Day Music and Sustainability Festival, at Jordan Valley Ice Park on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

Headlining the festival's Fourth of July concert on the National Mall are The Ozark Mountain Daredevils. The Daredevils take the festival's Rinzler Stage at 5 p.m. The concert is followed by a firework show.

More: The Ozark Mountain Daredevils to perform at annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on July 4

Those interested in learning a bit more about the Daredevils' history may tune in to "Music and Identity in the Ozarks: A Conversation with The Ozark Mountain Daredevils" from 2-2:45 p.m.

If visiting the Smithsonian Folklife Festival website, note that all programming times are in Eastern Daylight Time. For the purpose of local readers, the News-Leader has updated each mentioned date to reflect Central Standard Time.

Established in 1967, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is produced by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The annual festival is free and welcomes attendees from more than 100 countries.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Focused on Ozarks, Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues this week