Twelve-year-old Sara Estrada is one of America’s newest citizens, sworn in at a special ceremony during the 2017 Folklife Festival.

“A beautiful thing happens when I get the opportunity to bring genres and communities together around music,” says Washington, D.C., hi-hop artist Christylez Bacon.

As people migrate, they take their music with them. The sound of the accordion, a traditional European instrument, has traveled the world and been incorporated into the Cajun music of BeauSoleil and conjunto music of Los Texmaniacs.

When I think of Hawaiian music, I first think of the ukulele, but slack-key guitar is just as uniquely Hawaiian. Ledward “Led” Kaapana is a ukulele virtuoso, but to my ear, he shines brightest when playing slack-key guitar.

“We’re rolling out the red carpet for the youth circuses of tomorrow who are coming up today. The top hat is a symbol of that,” says ringmaster Tim Mack.

Family is central to Sheila Kay Adams’s music and identity. She is, after all, a seventh-generation Appalachian ballad singer.

“The first time I performed was when I was in college, and I totally blacked out. I mean, I was completely sober, but when I got off stage, I turned to my friend and I was like, ‘what happened up there?’”

Kino Musica is a very D.C. band: the product of colliding music scenes, friendships made during Smithsonian internships, and the influence of Ethiopian community.

Since 2000, this 400-year-old Guatemalan tradition has also been practiced in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., by the Guatemalan communities here.

“Poetry is all about love, ultimately. And we need poems like we need as much love as possible.”