This roundtable addresses the concept of “public" ethnomusicology and folklore using various approaches. Panelists will share their hands-on experiences, and participants will discuss innovative strategies for meaningful engagement between institutions and communities. Panelist 1 will discuss practical and philosophical considerations pertaining to public-facing events that interweave scholarship, performance, discussion, and storytelling. As a “performer-scholar” pursuing an advanced degree in Ethnomusicology while maintaining deep community ties and a regular live-music touring schedule, Panelist 1 is in a unique position to articulate the potentials and challenges of planning events meant to bring together institutional entities and community members in the shared pursuit of knowledge. Panelist 2 will describe the development of a virtual exhibit intended for wide public dissemination. As the primary curator of a Google Arts & Culture page for a US-based ethnographic sound archive, Panelist 2 will reflect on how archivists and ethnomusicologists can engage the public while navigating challenges, such as the centrality of ethnographers/donors; metadata considerations and problematic language; and rights/licensing considerations. Panelist 3 will discuss collaborative ventures between institutions and communities. A late-career arts advocate focused on public projects, Panelist 3 has worked with long-term partners to strategically document traditional practices with the goals of preservation, pedagogy, and the search for material support (e.g., grant funding). Taken together, the session situates public ethnomusicology and folklore within broader conversations about knowledge circulation, institutional accountability, and the ethics of representation, asking not only how we make our work public, but how we make it accountable, reciprocal, and transformative.