Spotlight Programs

Throughout this semester, fourth-grade students across DC Public Schools are challenged to identify issues affecting their neighborhoods, apply STEAM concepts in developing creative solutions, and build upon their personal experiences within their communities. The project culminates in the first-ever DC STEAM Expo, a poster-based science fair organized by the National Children’s Museum and hosted in the National Museum of American History’s Coulter Plaza.

Sing Democracy 250 is a stirring musical odyssey commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, with performances by choirs across the United States in 2026. Through exciting new music, the performance brings people together to reflect on American history and our responsibilities to each other and our country. Sing Democracy 250 believes that music holds the power to transcend divisions, affirm diversity, and inspire hope and harmony for our nation, so that our democracy is not just remembered but renewed for the next 250 years. The power of democracy is in the voice of its people, and every voice matters.

In June and July, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage hosts free programs in the Arts and Industries Building, including the Folklife Marketplace gift shop, hands-on activities with artists and radio DJs, a pop-up exhibition of objects and stories from past Folklife Festivals, and the conversation series “For the Common Good: Smithsonian Voices on Our Shared Future 250.”

Celebrate freedom, culture, and community at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum’s Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, a full day honoring history, creativity, wellness, music, and tradition. Juneteenth serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of coming together as a community to reflect, celebrate freedom, preserve cultural traditions, and create joyful spaces rooted in connection, resilience, and collective healing. This family-friendly celebration invites guests of all ages to gather in joy and reflection.

“Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual” is the renowned Silkroad Ensemble’s current touring program with artistic director Rhiannon Giddens, exploring how we can experience music to better understand our world, find comfort, process loss and a changing environment, and rebuild community based on our own humanity. Drawing from Italian tarantella, Congolese string music, Indian tabla, and American roots music, the ensemble offers a special Juneteenth program during this weekend on Tulsa’s Guthrie Green.

Celebrate the World Cup and America’s 250th at the National Museum of African Art. Enjoy a moderated panel discussion, a Sounds of Africa concert, drop-in artmaking, a slideshow featuring soccer photography, and drinks for purchase.

The Huntington’s “This Land Is ...” initiative invites visitors to reflect on the American story through the lens of land, drawing from library, art, and botanical collections to spotlight relationships between place, U.S. history, and American identities. A series of four “Sunday Suppers” focuses on particular Los Angeles neighborhoods, diaspora communities, and native ingredients.

Across this five-part series of programs, we will illuminate collective moments of celebration and remembrance, inside the Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza’s demonstration kitchen at the National Museum of American History. Each session will feature live music performance alongside cooking demonstrations, with the story facilitated by a moderator.

Chautauqua Institution is a nonprofit destination where ideas, creativity and lifelong learning come together during a nine-week summer season. For more than 150 years, it has brought people together on the shores of Chautauqua Lake to explore the best in human values through the arts, education, religion, and recreation. During this week, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Chautauqua investigates and celebrates togetherness as a critical component of what it means to be human.

As the nation looks back on 250 years of history, the story of the circus runs right alongside it. Circus has always been a shared culture, made by working artists and craftspeople and offered to everyone who came through the gate. This Labor Day weekend, the Circus Arts Conservatory of Sarasota, Florida, joins the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with programming that honors both the wonder of the circus and the craft and labor that make it possible.

Since its beginnings as a New York City film festival in 2007, ReelAbilities has grown into an international organization using disability-focused cinema year-round to improve storytelling, access, and opportunity. Its new Rediscover initiative uses landmark film to connect history, community, culture, and access through four interrelated pillars of partnership, programming, presentation, and perspective.

Featuring an all-Black cast, The Flying Ace (1926) is a silent drama about a World War I aviator who returns to his job as a railroad detective just as the paymaster and company payroll disappear. Among its most memorable performers is Steve “Peg” Reynolds, a Black amputee actor and stuntman playing an amputee character, a rarity on screen both then and now.