Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is a worldwide demonstration of living educational heritage and folk culture traditions that occurs yearly in Washington D.C. The Smithsonian Institution's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage oversees this event annually as a way of bringing live cultural exhibits together for anyone across the world to come and see. Similar to other exhibits the Smithsonian provides, there is no charge for visitors of the festival. The exhibits are open to the public and the festival is expected to bring out more than a million visitors.

The Folklife Festival expands over a two week period during the summer time and always includes the Forth of July holiday weekend. The community comes together to keep culture and heritage alive by dressing the part and putting on living, breathing exhibits.

This years Folklife Festival at the Smithsonian will run from June 25^th until July 6^th. Festival exhibits are open daily from 11:00am until 5:30pm with the exception of June30th and July 1^st when the museum will be closed. Visitors are to be warned that there will be very limited parking at the National Mall during the events and if at all possible you are encouraged to use metro rail as an alternate method of transportation.

There are three featured events at this years Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington D.C.:

Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon

This will be the debut appearance in the festival for Bhutan. Bhutan is located east of the Himalayas and is surrounded by China and India. Until the 1960's there were no roads that lead outside the city of Bhutan. Largely because of the convenient isolation, the Bhutanese people have had no trouble keeping their traditions and culture alive.

The Bhutanese people survive primarily by farming and living off the land. To display their traditions, more than one hundred Bhutanese people will be at the Smithsonian as part of the Folklife Festival. Artists, dancers, craftsman, farmers, carpenters and cooks will all be demonstrating how it is to live in Bhutan with hopes to sustain their current culture for many years to come. Highlighted in the display will be Bhutanese weavers as they show off their talents that have come to make Bhutanese textiles so desired throughout the world. Sculptors and painters will also display the talents of creating buildings and temples. The dancers will show off their skills as they perform live masked dances that have become tradition.

NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond

To display the role men and women alike have had in bringing light to the world on subjects of science and culture. This light is displayed in previous events as well as events yet to come.

The NASA exhibits will have plenty of hands-on activities that will be great for the children. To inspire the next generation to think beyond the box and to always challenge what if is a goal of the NASA exhibit. The exhibit will include question and answer sessions and much public involvement. Participation from the crowd is expected and encouraged. An overview of the history of NASA will be part of the exhibit as well. Astronauts and astronomers will be on-site to answer public questions.

Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food and Wine

The Texas exhibit will mainly focus of different areas of music, food and wine across the state of Texas. Texas is commonly referred to as "The Lone Star State". Known for a diverse amount of music displays of gospel, country, Texas blues, swing, and many more will be displaying their vocal talents in an effort to keep the music heritage alive and kicking. Texans will also be out demonstrating their culinary abilities so taste testing is encouraged. Let's not forget the Texas wineries. Displays showing how the wine is developed and bottled will also be on-site.

You can get more information on the festival events by visiting http://www.folklife.si.edu/center/festival.html. A twenty-five minute video is available so you can further get an understanding of what to expect when visiting. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is the largest folk culture event that occurs yearly in Washington D.C. Bring the family out to learn and enjoy all the festival has to offer.