Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC, which this year marks Mexico’s Independence Bicentennial and Revolution Centennial.

PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

TO:         PUBLIC RADIO STATION MANAGERS

FM:        RADIO BILINGÜE

DT:         JUNE 25, 2010

DESCRIPTION:   Radio Bilingüe’s Línea Abierta team goes on the road again to provide a special, ten-hour coverage of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC, which this year marks Mexico’s Independence Bicentennial and Revolution Centennial.   The hosts of the series are Graciela “Chelis” López of the weekday talk show Línea Abierta and Filemón López, host of the weekly La Hora Mixteca.  Eva Hernández will also be joining La Hora Mixteca in simulcast from XETLA, La Voz de la Mixteca, in Tlaxiaco, in the Mexican highlands. The team will bring to the national airwaves and online streaming the music and voices of grassroots artists from diverse indigenous Mexican communities, including Comcaac musicians from Sonora, jaraneros performing son jarocho from Veracruz, traditional mariacheros from Jalisco, among many others. Radio Bilingüe will also include the stories from practitioners of ancient indigenous traditions like farming, crafts, foodways, and much more.

TIMES:

Thursday, July 1^st, 3 PM – 5 PM Eastern Time, talk shows on Línea Abierta

Friday, July 2^nd, 3 PM – 5 PM ET, talk shows on Línea Abierta

Saturday, July 3^rd, 3 PM – 7 PM ET, Musical concerts.

Sunday, July 4^th, 3 PM – 5 PM ET, a transnational broadcast on La Hora Mixteca.                                                                                                                                                           

TECHNICAL:   The programs will be made available to affiliate stations via the satellite system of Satélite Radio Bilingüe. They will also be available on the PRSS’ ContentDepot. Radio Bilingüe Internet will also distribute these special programs via webcast, podcast and audio on demand on its website www.radiobilingue.org .

PRODUCERS: Radio Bilingüe is producing this special project in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution. Additional collaborations include community stations WRTE-FM, Radio Arte in Chicago, KPOO-FM in San Francisco, CA, and XETLA in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico.

FUNDORS: The National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, The James Irvine Foundation and The Ford Foundation.