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About the Festival
At the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, experience living traditions from around the world. Our goal is to work with communities to strengthen and preserve their cultures and share them with you on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The next Festival is
June 24–28 & July 1 –5, 2020
  • Ruby Ibarra
  • The Social Power of Music

    This year we celebrate the power of music to entertain, educate, inspire, preserve history, strengthen identity, and build community.

    Saturday, June 29, 12–10 p.m.
    Join us on the National Mall for a local record label market, zine-making activities, and archiving demonstrations at the D.C. Music Preservation Pop-Up. Grab some drinks and food truck delicacies and stay for the evening concert featuring Ruby Ibarra, Quetzal featuring Alice Bag and La Marisoul, and Kokayi.

    Sunday, June 30, 10:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
    Sing along at the Smithsonian Folkways tribute to Pete Seeger with The Bright Siders, Sonia De Los Santos, Dan & Claudia Zanes, and Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower, plus instrument workshops and more. Hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash closes out the weekend.

  • D.C. Music Events
    D.C. Music Events

    In addition to the preservation pop-up on June 29, D.C.: The Social Power of Music is presenting arts workshops, performances, and more leading up to a full program in 2020.

  • Kennedy Center Concerts
    Kennedy Center Concerts

    We are co-presenting five additional free concerts on the Millennium Stage June 29 through July 3. All concerts will stream live from the Kennedy Center’s website.

  • Smithsonian Year of Music
    Smithsonian Year of Music

    The Festival is just two of 365 days of music at the Smithsonian in 2019 as the institution is presenting concerts, workshops, films, exhibitions, and lectures every day of the year.

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Looking Ahead

  • In the West African nation of Benin, these Zangbeto spirits protect communities from physical and spiritual danger.
    Photo by Rebecca Fenton

    In 2020, we will be back in full form as the Folklife Festival explores how diverse domains of cultural knowledge—from religion to design to science—shape the ways we understand, experience, and respond to ever-changing natural, social, and built environments.

    Programs will include the Baltic countries, Benin, Brazil, Cuba, D.C., Louisiana, and the United Arab Emirates. Alongside regional representations are the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon and Smithsonian Conservation Commons. A look at the rich history of American ginseng rounds out next year’s programming.

Past Programs
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  • Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is
    2011 Festival
    Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is

    Drawing from the deep tributaries of African American expressive culture, rhythm and blues is an amalgam of jump blues, big band swing, gospel, boogie, and blues that developed during racial segregation, three wars, and the struggle for civil rights.

  • Las Américas: Music in Latino Culture
    2009 Festival
    Las Américas: Music in Latino Culture

    The final installment of the Festival’s Nuestra Música series featured Puerto Rican bomba, Mexican son, Colombian joropo, Dominican merengue típico, Venezuelan música llanera, Paraguayan polca, Salvadoran chanchona, and much more.

  • The Silk Road
    2002 Festival
    The Silk Road

    The Silk Road was a vast network of trade routes whose flow of ideas, culture, music, and art spread from East Asia to the Mediterranean. This landmark Festival brought together diverse artists from across the Eurasian continent.

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