Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States.

[1] Attracting more than one million visitors yearly, the two-week-long celebration is the largest annual cultural event in the United States capital.

Usually divided into programs featuring a nation, region, state or theme, the Festival has featured tradition bearers from more than 90 nations, every region of the United States, scores of ethnic communities, more than 100 American Indian groups, and some 70 different occupations.

[1] Visitors participate, learning, singing, dancing, eating traditional foods, and conversing with people that the Festival program presents.

Years of preparation in collaboration with thousands of scholars, performers, and preservationists produced programs, activities, and outdoor exhibitions running five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday.