A collaboration between the Mongolian Buryat Association and the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the Ayalga Cultural Festival is meant to encourage members of the Buryaad community of Brooklyn and the greater metropolitan area to learn Buryaad language and customs through song. Ayalga means “melody” in Buryaad and through melody younger generations in New York City and beyond can learn this endangered language. It is the result of many months of planning and discussion during these difficult times. Faced with the risks of COVID-19, we decided to keep things safe and implement it online. But through this online process we were fortunate to learn more about the challenges of sustaining Buryaad song, tradition, and language in the American melting pot. Part of the Inner Asian Sustaining Cultures Initiative, this festival is one small step in understanding and addressing these challenges in anticipation of next year’s festival, which will be an expanded in-person event, if quarantine conditions permit.

This program is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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