Today is the Fourth of July, a day when our nation celebrates the Declaration of Independence from England that Thomas Jefferson and others approved in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

Immigrants as Innovators is today's theme, and indeed we will be having everything from traditional Malaysian music to Lao break-dancing.

The 44th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival will close on July 5th after ten days of activities on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Andina was born in Korea in the 1970s and adopted at seven months by an American family. Here she discusses with her adoptive mother and the difficulties of growing up Asian in a predominantly white community.

There is so much talent in the local Pacific Islander American community that we could not limit it to one day at the Festival

At one point on June 27 we had music coming from three stages of the APA program at the 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Cooking traditions of Americans of Cambodian, Indian, Nepalese, and Thai backgrounds will fill the air with delicious aromas at the Tea House tent today, as cooks prepare fruit carvings, dumplings, and noodles.

The world is focused these days on the World Cup of soccer taking place in South Africa, but after seeing and reading about chinlone, I cannot help but wonder why we do not celebrate this ancient Burmese sport and give it more visibility and popularity al

The Festival's Participant Coordinator, Sandi Tun, is also a highly regarded leader in the Burmese American cultural community.

String and percussion music will fill the performance stage today, with Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, and Sikh traditions featured.