"Our nation was robbed." Reddit poster: Smithsonian was denied a permit for a 250th Folklife festival on the mall.

[pnwmom]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Lasher (a host of the The DU Lounge forum).

I worked at Smithsonian, specifically raising money for 250th. What I want people to know is we secured millions of private philanthropy to host a month long Folklife Festival on the mall, “The Festival of Festivals”. Was going to feature well known festivals, think Burning Man, Farm Aid, Grand Ole Oprey etc. as well as smaller local and regional festivals from across the U.S. and territories. Goal was to feature truly the best and most beautiful creative expression in music, dance, arts and craft traditions, food, community etc. Can’t name names but plan was to have headliners every night for free concerts…. Think the types of names who might be affiliated with the aforementioned large festivals. Stars were willing to perform because was under banner of Smithsonian. It had to all be scrapped bc the administration would not release permits to host on the mall. The money went elsewhere, but our nation was robbed of what would have been a once in a generation cultural moment.

https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/1ueelg6/does_anyone_actually_know_whats_going_on_at_the/