About the Festival
At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, experience living traditions from around the world. Our goal is to work with communities to strengthen and preserve their cultures and share them with you on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Featured Programs
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Northeast Brazil
Celebrate the creative spirit of Brazil’s northeast and explore how its communities shape and respond to the environments surrounding them.
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United Arab Emirates
From poetry to perfume, explore past and present traditions of the region as resources for connecting communities and envisioning a sustainable future.
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Earth Optimism
Meet scientists, anthropologists, and other specialists to learn about conservation in action at the Smithsonian and in our communities.
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Solar Decathlon
In the culmination of the contest hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy, tour five solar homes and learn about ways to conserve energy at home.
Festival 101
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The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, established in 1967, honors contemporary living cultural traditions and celebrates those who practice and sustain them. Produced annually by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage on the National Mall, the Festival has featured participants from all fifty states and more than one hundred countries.
In 2020, the Festival explores how cultural knowledge—from religion to design to science—shapes the ways we understand, experience, and respond to ever-changing natural, social, and built environments. As always, visitors can enjoy live music and dance presentations, craft workshops, cooking demonstrations, and our evening concert series.
Featured Video
Festival Blog
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June 1, 2020Why Black Music Matters While Cities Burn
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May 21, 2020Kleicha: Gifts of Memory
Past Programs
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2011 FestivalColombia: The Nature of CultureVisitors journeyed through presentations of the rich bio-cultural diversity of Colombia and explored how Colombian cultural expressions are inextricably connected to their distinctive environments.
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1993 FestivalU.S.-Mexico BorderlandsBased on research in the rich and dynamic living culture of the border, the program provided a glimpse at its histories, diverse communities, local and regional identities, and its music, arts, crafts, healing practices, foodways, and narrative.
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1991 FestivalForest, Field and Sea: Folklife in IndonesiaCommunities from three provinces displayed some of the indigenous skills and traditional knowledge that have developed in environments outside the urban centers and fertile river valleys of the Indonesian heartland.
Support the Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, sustainability projects, educational outreach, and more.
