The 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival began on June 29 with a ceremony in the Smithsonian’s newly reopened Arts and Industries Building.

Each year we ask, how do we better engage you, the visitor, in the creation, production, and presentation of our programs? Since its inception, the Festival has been a unique dance between participants, curators, and visitors.

While Basque country is home to many styles of dance, each with variations in dress, there are some basic elements that dance costumes have in common.

As a master chef and lover of Basque cuisine, José Andrés shares some of his favorite picks from the Folklife Festival Marketplace.

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!

En el corazón agrícola del valle de San Joaquín de California, que se extiende 250 millas de Stockton en el norte a Bakersfield en el sur, dos grupos de artistas mantienen las tradiciones de sus comunidades mixtecas.

According to the 2010 census, there are fewer than 100,000 Indonesian Americans, a relatively small number given that Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country. Why do so few Indonesians immigrate to the United States?

This relatively simple custard filled cake has a dedicated following within Basque communities.

Summer in Los Angeles means it’s time to go to as many Japanese American obon gatherings as I can, to join in the dances known as bon odori.

We are honored here at Split This Rock to work with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Our goal as an organization is to call poets to a greater role in public life and foster a national network of socially engaged poets.