My time as an intern this summer was spent exploring the Smithsonian Folklife Festival through the lens of a camera

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.

It was the Fourth of July, and it was raining. Martha González, lead singer and songwriter of GRAMMY-winning band Quetzal, had just finished performing in a lively FandangObon performance at the 2016 Folklife Festival.

In an interview following his presentation at the 2016 Folklife Festival’s On the Move: Migration and Immigration Today tent, Joel attempted to trace the flux of emotions he experienced as a young Jewish boy in Germany.

What role does music play in your life? Is it for solitary enjoyment or social interaction? In this interview, music scholar Oliver Wang describes the social power of music to form connections

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival has taken on countless forms and meanings in its forty-nine years. At the 2016 Festival, we asked visitors, participants, and presenters for their own definition of the Festival.

Throughout our interview, she often referenced dreamlike interactions with magical figures, including a fairy who welcomed her to a treehouse deep in the woods.

Raymundo Guzmán, also known as MixteKo, is an artist based in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

Every time there was a rural sports demonstration at the Folklife Festival’s Frontoia, or Basque handball court, you could hear cheers of “aupa neskak!”—let’s go, girls!

Based in San Antonio, Texas, Los Texmaniacs is a Grammy Award-winning Smithsonian Folkways conjunto rock band.