What is Folklife?
Colombian vallenato music. Family recipes. Bahamian junkanoo parades. Christmas trees. Japanese taiko drumming. Car customizing. African American gospel. Joke telling. Haitian sign painting. Jai-alai. All of these traditional practices are examples of folklife.
Folk traditions are learned through word of mouth and/or by example. They are not learned in schools or books, but through our involvement in folk groups. These groups include families and ethnic, regional, occupational or religious communities. Types of folklife include music, dance, storytelling, handmade objects, foodways, rituals, occupational skills and much more. These practices are rooted in a community’s history. At the same time, they are dynamic, changing to meet a community’s contemporary needs.
South Florida folklife includes all of the traditions practiced by the region’s diverse peoples and cultures. To learn more about various local cultural practices, explore the rest of SFFC’s web pages.
