This first ethnographic study of a folklife festival focuses on festival participantsÑthose who cook, dance, tell stories, play music, or demonstrate crafts in a public display of folk culture. Valorizing and legitimizing divers aspects of different ethnic and regional cultures is the philosophical foundation of folklife festivals. As a form of representation, the festival, according to its proponents, should allow members of the cultural groups represented to Òtalk backÓ to those producing the representationÑscholars, folklorists, anthropologists, etc.Supporters of these events argue that this form of folkloric representation is as intellectually legitimate as the scholarly article or monograph. The validity of this contention, however, depends upon an openness to critique by other representers and participants. This study is an attempt to fulfill that critical function.