Now that the Folklife Festival is over, I had time to visit The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian.

As the Perú: Pachamama program opened on the National Mall, the Peruvian Ministry of Education announced a new policy officially recognizing the alphabets of twenty-four indigenous languages.

The Festival’s seventh day brought many important guests. The new Secretary of the Smithsonian , David Skorton, spent his second day on the job exploring the Perú: Pachamama program.

Most Americans think of “constellations” as linear figures drawn by connecting individual stars. We often associate them with Greek or Roman myths, but many other cultures attach their own stories to shapes they see in the night sky.

After a two-day break and a relentless overnight thunderstorm, the Folklife Festival returned to the National Mall. Thanks to the efforts of our Smithsonian colleagues and the National Park Service staff, the Festival site was able to open

The rain on June 27 may have pushed the Festival inside the National Museum of the American Indian, but it didn’t stop this year’s first tactile and verbal description tour.

Much time and research went into its design, so the “icon” could thoughtfully and equally represent the twelve artisan groups we brought from Peru to the National Mall.

Rain drove the Folklife Festival inside today, but that didn’t stop the participants of Perú: Pachamama from sharing their traditional knowledge and artistic talents with the public.

Chicha silkscreen artist Pedro “MONKY” Tolomeo and Festival presenter Alfredo Villar (a.k.a. DJ Sabroso) arrived a few days early last week, just in time for the SMITHSONIAN at 8 kickoff event, “Chicha! A Peruvian Dance Party.”

The National Mall was filled with the sounds of storytelling, foot stomping, and rope twirling as the 2015 Folklife Festival’s Perú: Pachamama program entered its second day.