Seven Basque American dance troupes performed at the 2016 Folklife Festival from across the American West, including Utah’ko Triskalariak.

Picon Punch is an iconic drink to Basque American cuisine, a niche regional specialty in the western United States.

During the Folklife Festival, I found myself repeatedly drawn to the Basque pottery tent where ceramicist Blanka Gomez de Segura worked through each day on her wheel.

Learning the limitations of any particular stone is a skill that only comes from pushing the boundaries. Bernat Vidal, a stone carver from Basque country, has learned how to expertly read a stone, even characterize its personality.

George Abe is an energetic, enigmatic man. A Japanese American born and raised in California, he presented and performed as part of the Sounds of California program.

Environmentalists, activists, educators—the Arrow-weeds are a force. They protect the sacred sites and desert ecosystem of their ancestral lands, the lower Colorado River region, through successfully protesting the creation of mines and turbines.

At the 2016 Folklife Festival, the Oinkari Basque Dancers energetically twirled, jumped, and high-kicked across the Musika eta Dantza Etxea and Frontoia.

In this interview, Tmbata answers questions about their American and Armenian inspirations, the importance of Armenian folk music, and what they want to do when get to D.C. for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The shapes and colors of Jesus Maria Lazkano’s landscape paintings are familiar, but his mountains float, his water falls in squares, and his icebergs hang in mid-air.

Under clear blue skies, our technical team is installing white tents and billowing signs on the green grass of the National Mall. You know what that means? The Smithsonian Folklife Festival will soon be upon us!