Smithsonian selects Levitt at the Falls event for nationwide Festival of Festivals

A series of curated programs from the Smithsonian for the nation’s 250th anniversary will include a festival from Levitt at the Falls.

The Mitakuye Owas’iƞ * All My Relatives * Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ Festival has been selected to participate in Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals.

The free multigenerational celebration of Indigenous excellence blends performance, design and community at Levitt’s downtown Sioux Falls location.

The event combines live music, traditional and contemporary performances, art and cultural experiences.

Presented by Levitt at the Falls and the Wokini Initiative at South Dakota State University, All My Relatives celebrates the cultures of the region’s Oceti Sakowin as well as the wider Native diaspora, with a strong emphasis on inspiring and engaging youth through family-friendly, interactive experiences, including live music, dance, a vendor market and a fashion show.

 “We’re honored to once again partner with the Wokini Initiative of South Dakota State University and the Smithsonian. After the incredible experience collaborating with the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center on Innoskate in 2022, it’s an honor to build on that momentum with a second major collaboration,” said Nancy Halverson, president and CEO of Levitt at the Falls.

“We’re especially honored to be selected to represent our community and share a festival centered on Native excellence — an opportunity that is deeply meaningful and uniquely rooted in our identity as a South Dakota-based arts organization. Working alongside institutions that share our commitment to creativity, community and cultural connection brings a new level of excitement and possibility to everything we do at Levitt at the Falls.”

The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage selected approximately 40 festivals to participate based on regional representation and a diversity of presentation styles, from jazz and bluegrass concerts to marketplaces and traditional artisan folklife festivals.

“Curators also looked for brand-new festivals and ones with ongoing relationships with the Smithsonian. After nearly 60 years of presenting the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., this is an opportunity for the Smithsonian to join millions more Americans in their home communities,” the organization said in a statement.

The Festival of Festivals is part of a larger effort at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to commemorate the national initiative “Culture of, by, and for the People.” It also encompasses By the People: Conversations Beyond 250, produced in collaboration with the Federation of State Humanities Councils and hosted in 51 states and territories, and For the People: Exploring Living Traditions for Learning, a workshop for middle school educators and teaching artists in six U.S. cities.

This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.