Skip to main content
  • Day Five: Top Ten Photos

    Click the image above to see full slideshow

    Where are you from? Where are you going? Why do you do what you do?

    These probably sound like simple questions, but they are at the core of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Answers to these questions reveal so much about individual and community identity—whether from a Festival participant or a visitor, a first-generation Chinese American immigrant or a fifth-generation circus clown. Take a look at today’s highlights as we explore the human spirit.

    We’ll be open for the Fourth of July tomorrow, without any evening events as we make way for the Washington, D.C., fireworks show. Our own Two Hemispheres Wagon, the largest circus wagon in history, will ride once again for the National Independence Day Parade. Come on down to see Liberian dance traditions, make your own puppets and parade with them down the Mall with Wise Fool New Mexico, and learn about the power of “social circus” with Circus Harmony.

    Elisa Hough is the editor for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.


  • Support the Folklife Festival, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, sustainability projects, educational outreach, and more.

    .