2025 Folklife Festival Program Aid Volunteers
Work alongside and support the work of program participants as they present their activities, work areas and demonstrations. Volunteers will be assigned to a role for each shift with a range of responsibilities, including assisting program participants with demonstration area set-up including moving objects and furniture, attending to visitors, helping to secure participant workspaces, sitting in for participants during breaks, and keeping water coolers full.
The following roles are available to volunteers.
In your application, please note your top three roles of interest in preferred order.
Building Trades:Skilled craftspeople in the traditional building trades play a vital role in preserving our nation's built environment and cultural heritage. This program features inspiring examples of intergenerational teaching and learning in the heritage trades, highlighting the diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences of young people learning the building crafts and the master artisans dedicated to passing on their knowledge, skills, and traditions to the next generation. Learn more about this program HERE.
* Applicants with experience or interest in stone carving or masonry, iron work or blacksmithing, carpentry or hewing, color matching or plaster work are strongly encouraged to apply.
Emerging Media Makers: Highlighting how young filmmakers, journalists, and DJs are telling unique and personal stories that explore the depth and breadth of their worlds, this program includes film screenings and talkbacks, intergenerational discussions about mentorship and craft, and engaging hands-on workshops. Learn more about this program HERE.
* Applicants with experience in media making are strongly encouraged to apply.
* This program primarily happens inside the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Family Activities Area: This area presents a variety of activities to help young children engage with the Festival's contents through play, including games, blocks, tough exhibits, collaborative murals, and more. Managing supplies and interfacing with visitors are key responsibilities.
* Applicants with experience working with young children are strongly encouraged to apply.
Learning Together:Some items that are essential to Folklife and Culture can only be made by hand. Visitors will learn how some of these crafts are made, including luthiers making stringed instruments, weavers making traditional cloth and clothing, and silverwork (and roping demonstrations!) Learn more about this program HERE.
* Applicants with experience in related crafts or material culture are strongly encouraged to apply.
* Applicants with connection to Southeast Asian communities or Mexican American communities are encouraged to apply.
Museum of Contemporary American Teenagers: Through art, performances, and interactive activities, MoCAT's mission is to honor teenage creativity and expression, challenge stereotypes, and empower teens to reclaim their stories. At the Festival, teens will present performances, discussions, and demonstrations that explore topics as varied as "third spaces," social media, fashion, slang, and coming-of-age. Learn more about this program HERE.
* Applicants aged 14-20 or educators who work with teenagers are strongly encouraged to apply. Those aged 14-16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Music Apprenticeship & Wordsmiths and Storytellers: Many musical cultures as well as poetry and storytelling are generational practices, preserved through the oral transmission of knowledge, techniques, and traditions. These areas present examples of the relationship between students and teachers, showing the multiple ways of teaching-learning created by each human community as part of its cultural heritage and area celebration of narrative, rhythm, and verse, and how youth continue to breathe new life into diverse literary and performance scenes. Learn more about these programs HERE.
* Applicants with music, music production, music education, music, poetry, or storytelling experience are strongly encouraged to apply.
Native Language Reclamation: Language is a vital resource in the toolkit for young people shaping their future and the future of their peoples and communities. This program features four groups representing different languages, regions, and ways of life and learning. Each will have engaging cultural demonstrations, including daily lacrosse sessions, exploring what connects them to their cultures and motivates them to learn their languages. Learn more about this program HERE.
*Applicants with experience in lacrosse or native languages are strongly encouraged to apply.
Streetwise, Skating, Skate Arts & Lowriders:The Festival's Streetwise activities and presentations showcase the creativity with which young people, past and present, express their connections to the public spaces they inhabit. Participants will present skateboarding demonstrations, offer lessons, DJing, live pant skate decks and murals, and demonstrate the arts and techniques involved in customizing cars and bikes. Learn more about this program HERE.
* Applicants who are experienced skateboarders, or who have experience with visual arts or car customization are strongly encouraged to apply.
* In your application, you may outline any relevant experience or links to your work online, including Instagram, YouTube, personal website, etc.
REQUIRED SKILLS & ABILITIES:
- Friendly and comfortable interacting with the public
- Reliable and punctual
- Ability to work a half or full-day shift in the heat
- Ability to lift up to 40lbs
- Closed-toed shoes and a water bottle are required
- A hat and sunscreen are strongly recommended
- A T-shirt and badge will be provided to each volunteer
- Applicants must be 18 years or older (unless specified exception)
- Spanish and native language speakers are encouraged to apply
- Training to work with minors may be required
- Training appropriate to the tasks will be provided
SCHEDULING:
July 2-7
Shifts Available:
Morning: 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Afternoon: 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
