Especially for Children
At the Family Activity Area, hear Chinese storytellers, make Silk Road-inspired musical instrument, watch Indian puppeteers, learn some martial arts skills, touch a silk worm cocoon, and much more. Young adventurers can pick up a Silk Road Passport at the Festival, have it stamped at special stations around the Festival site, and receive a reward at the end of the journey. Check the teachers.silkroadproject.org for other family-oriented activities and educational tie-ins.


Crafts, Recordings & Food Sales
Festival program books, which include daily schedules, will be sold at the site. A variety of objects produced by Silk Road artisans and craftspeople, and a selection of related books, tapes, compact discs, and Smithsonian Folkways recordings will also be available at the Festival Marketplace on the Mall-side lawn of the Freer Gallery of Art. A Smithsonian Folkways two-CD set, The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan, has been specially produced for the Festival and is available in the Marketplace and through www.folkways.si.edu. The Bazaar, also in front of the Freer Gallery, will feature arts and crafts from across the Silk Road, provided by businesses and organizations operating in the region. Visitors may also purchase traditional Japanese, Chinese, South Asian, Central Asian, and Italian lunches, snacks, and dinners from Festival food concessions.


Services for Visitors with Disabilities
Large-print versions of the daily schedule and audio-cassette and disc versions of the program book and program signs are available at the Festival Information kiosks and the Volunteer tent. Volunteers are on call to assist wheelchair users. Audio loops to assist hard-of-hearing visitors are installed at the music stages. Sign-language interpreters are available on site; the Festival schedule notes which performances and presentations are signed. Service animals are welcome. Oral interpreters will be provided if a request is made a week in advance by calling 202.275-0572 (TTY) or 202.275.1905 (voice).


Related Activities
The Smithsonian Associates offers a variety of lectures, courses, seminars, a study tour, and a summer camp program to complement the Folklife Festival. Some of these additional events extend past the Festival's end on July 7th.

For information about the Smithsonian Study Tour, "The Silk Road," June 27—30, featuring special behind-the-scenes experiences at the Festival, call toll-free 877.338.8687. For information about the summer camp for children ages 8—11, June 24—28, and other resident associates programs, call 202.357.3030 or visit www.SmithsonianAssociates.org.

During the two weeks of the Festival, there will be related film programs nearby at the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Details can be found at www.nga.gov/programs/film.htm and www.mnh.si.edu/cal_events.html.