[MD-Baltimore-County] Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2025 Invitation

[Maryland President]

Hello from the Smithsonian Folklife Festival! 

My name is Bella Pulliam.  I am the Accessibility Intern for the 2025 Folklife Festival, working with Diane Nutting (Visitor Accessibility Manager), who I am cc’ing on this email. We are reaching out to blind, low vision, and disabled communities throughout the DMV to share information about this year’s Festival and to invite you to spread the word among your community contacts and networks. 

The Festival will be held July 2 – July 7 on the National Mall between 7th and 12th streets. The Festival is FREE to attend and is open from 11AM until 5:30 PM daily, with additional featured concerts and events on Thursday – Sunday evening.  A full  <https://festival.si.edu/schedule> schedule of events is available on our website. 

During the Festival there will be audio described events, sighted guides on request, visual description tours, braille, and large-print materials. Learn more about  <https://festival.si.edu/accessibility> accessibility information on our website. 

This year’s Festival theme,  <https://festival.si.edu/2025/youth-future-culture> Youth and the Future of Culture, focuses on youth impact and engagement in areas such as art, traditional building trades, music, food, native language reclamation, lowrider culture, film and media making, spoken word, and storytelling. With such a diverse group of participants from across the US and internationally, there will be many opportunities to see how this generation interacts with culture and tradition and makes it their own. Visitors will have opportunities to learn and explore through hands-on demonstrations, collaborative events, demonstrations and discussion panels, and by being present in this unique space.    

We are particularly excited that as part of our Emerging Media Makers program, the Festival will feature a screening of The Ride Ahead by Emmy Award winning filmmakers Samuel and Dan Habib. This documentary film has embedded audio description and follows Samuel as he explores what it means to be an independent adult through interviews with disabled adults and leaders including Judy Heumann, Bob Williams, Maysoon Zayid, and others.  <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-ride-ahead-film-screening-and-discussion-tickets-1394743026939?aff=oddtdtcreator> Advance registration for  <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-ride-ahead-film-screening-and-discussion-tickets-1394743026939?aff=oddtdtcreator> The Ride Ahead <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-ride-ahead-film-screening-and-discussion-tickets-1394743026939?aff=oddtdtcreator>  is required. 

The Festival strives to maintain an accessible and inclusive environment for all.  Some other accessibility services and supports that are provided include accessible seating, wheelchair loans, ASL interpretation, live, real-time captioning (CART), and a Festival sensory guide.  

Additional  <https://festival.si.edu/accessibility> accessibility information and detailed service schedules can be found on our website. If you have any questions or anticipate needing additional support, please do not hesitate to contact us. To reach out you can reply directly to this email ( <mailto:PulliamB at si.edu> PulliamB at si.edu), call us at 202-633-7488, or email  <mailto:folklife at si.edu> folklife at si.edu. 

We thank you in advance for sharing this information with your own networks to help spread the word about this event.   

We look forward to seeing you at the Folklife Festival! 

 

Warmest regards, 

Bella Pulliam (she/her) 

Visitor Accessibility Intern 

Smithsonian Folklife Festival, 2025 

 <mailto:PulliamB at si.edu> PulliamB at si.edu 

 

 

 

 

Ronza Othman, President

National Federation of the Blind of Maryland

443-426-4110

Pronouns: she, her, hers

 

 

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