Smithsonian Folklife Festival Features Northern Ireland
~ June 27 - July 1; July 4-8
The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an international
exposition of living cultural heritage annually produced outdoors on
the National Mall of the United States in Washington, D.C., by the
Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
The Festival takes place for two weeks every summer overlapping the
Fourth of July holiday. It is an educational presentation that features
community-based cultural exemplars. Free to the public, like other
Smithsonian museums, each Festival typically draws more than one million
visitors.
Among other areas, this year’s Festival
will feature Northern Ireland. The Northern
Ireland program will bring to Washington the
region's finest performers, artists, storytellers,
craftspeople, cooks, and workers to help explain,
demonstrate, and celebrate their culture. Through
dynamic Festival performances, demonstrations,
and educational activities, the program will
highlight the rich history, living traditions,
and distinctive customs of this beautiful region.
Reflecting the complexity and creativity of
Northern Ireland, the site will feature traditional
industries, such as Belleek pottery and Bushmills
Irish Whiskey, home-based crafts, such as lace-
and bagpipe-making, and modern community expressions,
such as mural painting.
A number of the U-SSA’s Ulster-Scots
friends from Northern Ireland will be attending
as musicians or crafts demonstrators. Please
find time to gather with other U-SSA members
and friends and enjoy the North of Ireland
right here in the U.S.A.! For more information
on the Folklife Festival, visit:
http://www.folklife.si.edu/festival/2007/index.html
Ulster-Scots
Society of America Annual General Membership
Meeting ~ Oct. 19-21, 2007
At the Stone Mountain Highland Games
Mark your calendar! The Ulster-Scots Society
of America has set the 2007 Annual General
Membership Meeting to coincide with the 35th
Anniversary
of the Stone Mountain Highland Games at the
foot of Stone Mountain just northeast of
Atlanta, Georgia this October 19-21, 2007.
So be sure and pencil this in! The U-SSA
has requested information regarding a Society
tent during the event. Pending approval,
this will be a great opportunity not only
for U-SSA members and friends to have fun
and fellowship, but also to educate the public
about Ulster-Scots history and culture.
For more on the Stone Mountain Highland Games,
visit www.smhg.org.
Also, download this letter,
agenda and registration/feedback form.
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