Summer in Washington, D.C., would not be complete without its great civic rituals--the Fourth of July concert at the foot of Capitol Hill, the fireworks by the Washington Monument, and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. A remarkable celebration of the freedom of expression--sharing and seeking ideas and information--the Festival brings you face-to-face with hundreds of tradition bearers from around the world to explore their cultures and histories on the National Mall of the United States. The inherent give-and-take of the Festival creates relationships between people that in turn foster new understandings and new aspirations for communities Large and small. I grew up in D.C., and I remember visiting the 1976 Bicentennial Festival with my family and meeting a kayak maker from Alaska. I confess I don't remember anything about his boat. Instead, what left a lasting impression on me was how he complained about the heat and described taking cold showers every day to cool off after his long hours on the Mall.