What is Folklife?

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The everyday and intimate creativity that all of us share and pass on to the next generation:

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The traditional songs we sing, listen and dance to

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Fairy tales, stories, ghost tales and personal histories

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Riddles, proverbs, figures of speech, jokes and special ways of speaking

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Our childhood games and rhymes

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The way we celebrate life 
– from birthing our babies to honoring our dead

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The entire range of our personal and collective beliefs 
– religious, medical, magical and social

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Our handed-down recipes and everyday mealtime traditions

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The way we decorate our world
– from patchwork patterns on our quilts to plastic flamingos in our yards, to tattoos on our bodies

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The crafts we create by hand
– crocheted afghans, wooden spoons, cane bottoms on chairs

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Patterns and traditions of work
– from factory to office cubicle

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The many creative ways we express ourselves as members of our family, our community, our geographical region, our ethnic group, our religious congregation, or our occupational group

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Folklife is part of everyone’s life. It is as constant as a ballad, as changeable as fashion trends. It is as intimate as a lullaby, and as public as a parade.

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In the end, we are all folk.

The American Folklife Center
The Library of Congress
Washington, DC