Solstice Saturday Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian

When:
June 22, 2019 @ 3:00 PM – 9:30 PM
2019-06-22T15:00:00-04:00
2019-06-22T21:30:00-04:00
Where:
Museum of the American Indian
Independence Ave SW
Washington
DC 20560
Cost:
Free

Solstice Saturday Festival at the National Museum of the American Indian

Saturday, June 22; 3–9:30 p.m.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in DC celebrates the first Saturday of summer—Solstice Saturday— beginning with an afternoon of Andean music, dance, and family friendly activities celebrating the Great Inka Road. At 7 p.m., the celebration becomes the Solstice Illuminated Dance Party, taking place on the museum’s Welcome Plaza. There will be a DJ, refreshments, fun, and food, with all galleries open throughout the evening.

3–7 p.m.—Solstice Saturday: Celebrate the Sun!

With the exhibition The Great Inka Road as the theme, the museum celebrates Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun, with Andean music and dance. The festivity opens with traditional Bolivian dancing by Tradiciones Bolivianas, Pujllay Cliza, Fraternidad Tinkus Chochabamba, and Expresion Cultural Sikuris K’hantati Los Andes share traditional dances of Bolivia. RAYMI will be playing Andean music.

Make your own Andean fan based on the chakana, a symbol evoking the four cardinal directions, and add luminescent embellishments to show off later in the evening. Get inspired by the solar and lunar imagery throughout the museum and decorate your own canvas bag to take home.

Indigenous peoples of the Andes in South America believed that gold represented the sun. Visitors can create their own foil pendant featuring your choice of a llama, sun, or jaguar design at the imagiNATIONS Activity Center.

Meet Ande, the museum’s resident, life-size, plush toy Llama. Learn how to dress a fashionable llama for a stroll along the Inka road.

7–9:30 p.m.—Solstice Illuminated Dance Party

Grab a glow stick and dance to DJ Dola on the Welcome Plaza. Enjoy food and drinks—including anticuchos de carne, lomo saltado, chicken empanadas, chips and guacamole, arroz con leche and churros con chocolate—from local vendors Peruvian Brothers and the museum’s Mitsitam Café. Bears Shaved Ice will be serving shaved ice in a variety of flavors!

Be sure to visit the Museum’s membership table with your member card to receive a special gift (or join that evening). Cool off with a walk through the indoor galleries, which also will be open through the night.

When the sun goes down, bring your luminescent fan and join a “comparsa Iluminada”—an illuminated procession— and join Tradiciones Bolivianas, Raymi, Fraternidad Tinkus Chochabamba, Expresion Cultural Sikuris K’hantati Los Andes, and Pujllay Cliza in the procession from the festivities to an outdoor gathering on the Welcome Plaza.

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