Museums: Smithsonian Folklife Festival (Part 2 of 2)

Our visit to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues.

The other region featured in this year's Folklife Festival was Catalonia.

The exhibition featured a discussion group with Catalans talking about Catalonia and answering audience questions.

Musicians playing traditional Catalan music serenaded us while we toured the exhibition.

The exhibition also featured live demonstrations of many Catalan crafts, including iron working, mosaics and ceramics 

One Catalan craft caught our attention--the creation of giants (gegants) with a papier-mâché like material.  The giants "usually represent well known archetypes or historical figures relevant to the community ."  A pair of giants are pictured below.  

Another display also caught our attention.  Catalonia is known for its sport of human tower building, where rival groups and towns attempt to build the tallest castell. 

Some Catalan castellers first demonstrated the proper way to ascend and then audience members joined in building a small castell.

To see a video showing the construction of a castell, click here.  We plan to see a castell competition in person during Year 8 in Spain.  

Of course, there was Catalan food.  A long-time D.C. restaurant, the Taberna del Alabardero, served some tasty Catalan treats.  Greg enjoyed a bikini sandwich.  

Thanks for visiting the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with us.  

P.S.  And always remember . . .