Smithsonian Folklife Festival Gives Way to Trump’s Patriotic Fair

Nytimes reports the Smithsonian Institution’s Folklife Festival, held in Washington every summer since 1967, will not take place this summer in its usual spot on the National Mall, which will instead be used for President Trump’s Great American State Fair. The Smithsonian announced it will take the Folklife Festival “on the road” to communities across the country and in three U.S.

territories, saying this will allow the institution to “commemorate, celebrate and contemplate” the 250th anniversary in local settings. A Smithsonian spokeswoman, Linda St. Thomas, confirmed that no part of the festival would take place on the Mall. The Folklife Festival is the institution’s oldest and largest public event and typically brings artisans, performers and speakers to the Mall around July 4.

United States, Washington