As the nation celebrates its independence, Radio Bilingüe will broadcast performances from Las Américas, the Latino music component of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival that begins June 24 through July 5 in Washington, D.C. with extraordinary folk artists who represent some of the best musical traditions from the U.S. and Latin America.

Radio Bilingüe, now in its third year of broadcasting the Latino music festival, will cover the first half of the two-week run June 24-29 broadcasting and webcasting the programs at 3 PM and 5 PM EDT. Additional online platforms will include podcast, audio on demand archives, news text and photos.

Artists represent emblematic musical styles in the United States and throughout the Americas including -

• Puerto Rican bomba, plena, and jíbaro music,

• Mexican son music, mariachi music,

• Colombian vallenato, joropo, and currulao,

• Dominican merengue típico, bachata, and salve,

• Chilean cueca, tonada, and nueva canción,

• Venezuelan música llanera,

• Paraguayan polca,

• Guatemalan marimba, and

• Salvadoran chanchona music.

Chelis Lopez, a long-time cultural arts promoter and on-air personality in San Francisco, will host the series. The special coverage is in collaboration with WLCH Radio Centro in Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania.

Available via Content Depot, Satellite or online stream.

Webcasting, podcast, audio on demand archives, news text and photos are available at www.radiobilingue.org.