The 2018 Virginia Folklife Area’s theme was Masquerade. We explored various costuming and adornment traditions in Virginia, including the intricate and delicate ceremonial ensembles from Virginia and the region’s Cambodian masters, the deeply expressive handcrafted Buddhist t’sam ceremonial masks of Northern Virginia’s vibrant Mongolian community, and the truly spectacular, colorful, and labor-intensive Carnival costumes of the mid-Atlantic’s Caribbean community. These and other costuming arts are not meant to be simply displayed but donned, and thus all our featured master crafters were joined by a cadre of dancers, stilt walkers, contortionists, and revelers.  
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Artists and themes for the 2019 FEstival will be announced summer 2019