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Featured Upcoming Event

  • On the left, a monk ties a string around a person's wrist. A line of people wait in the background to receive the same. On the right, two headshots of two women.
    August 12, 2021, 7–8 p.m. ET
    Healing Faith: From Lamentation to Transformation

    Streaming online

    Diverse religious traditions have developed deep reservoirs of “healing faith”—cultural wisdom and spiritual practices to lament brokenness, promote healing, and transform painful circumstances. In this courageous conversation, Joanne Braxton and Angela Oh, two respected scholars, religious practitioners, and social activists, explore how religion and spirituality can be medicine for the spirit, the body, and the body politic.

    This program is a prelude to Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the United States at the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Our Purpose

  • Since 1967, the purpose of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has been to collaborate with cultural practitioners, communities, and heritage professionals to spark curiosity, catalyze intercultural exchange, and create participatory experiences that nurture human connection.

    Through research, curation, live programs, and digital storytelling, the Festival communicates an unwavering commitment to representing diverse cultures as a positive force for cultural equity, inclusivity, and the common good.

Featured Video

  • A welcome message from Center director Richard Kurin.

Current Research

  • United Arab Emirates
    Young falconer Osha readies her falcon, Yas

    From poetry to perfume, explore past and present traditions of the region as resources for connecting communities and envisioning a sustainable future.

  • Earth Optimism
    Smithsonian research scientist Mary Hagedorn takes a census of a Pacific coral reef community

    Meet scientists, anthropologists, and other specialists to learn about conservation in action at the Smithsonian and in our communities.

  • D.C. Music
    Map of DC showing user-submitted images and recordings with red star markers.

    Dig into the social power of music in the District of Columbia and contribute to a map of the city’s soundtrack.

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