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• 1 / 10
  Armenian carpet weavers explained and demonstrated the traditional ceremony of cutting a finished carpet from the loom. Other Armenian participants performed a song and showered the stage with fruits and candy. When the carpet is cut, they customarily put it on the weaver’s head.
  Photo by Julie Byrne, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  An Armenian American dance group called Shghta or “Chain” from Washington, D.C., took part in the Handes! Armenian Dance Summit performance today on the Rinzler Stage.
  Photo by John Young, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  The Ayrogi shadow puppets have been the hottest theater ticket on the National Mall, filling up their tent for each showing.
  Photo by John Young, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  In the afternoon, the Diables d’Igualada were finally able to light their staffs and show off their iconic pyrotechnic tradition, with the help of le drac (dragon) and other beastly creatures.
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  The Colla Vella, alongside rivals Colla Joves, drew an enormous crowd in the afternoon for their human tower demonstrations.
  Photo by John Young, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Armenian artisan Zara Gasparyan is co-creator of Sisian Ceramics with her husband Vahagn Hambardzumyan, but she also practices the art of batik textile dyeing. Today she demonstrated the process in the Marketplace.
  Photo by John Young, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Kwasi Asari, an artist from Ghana specializing in the honorable kente cloth, taught visitors how to weave their own versions of the traditional fabric with miniature looms.
  Photo by John Young, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Although the tonir oven and lavash flatbread making draw a lot of attention, the roof of the Hazarashenwith its spiraling layers is just as awe-inspiring.
  Photo by Ted Chaffman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  If the National Mall had a roof, Joan Garriga & the Galàctic Mariatxis would have brought it down.
  Photo by Jennifer Berry, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives
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  Closing a very eventful day, the Diables d’Igualada lit up the night sky with spinning sparklers and devilish chanting.
  Photo by Sonya Pencheva, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Click on the photo above to view full slideshow

As the Festival reaches its finale, many of artists and craftspeople have nearly completed the projects they have been working on throughout the past two weeks. The tabletop bottle-cap mosaic that visitors have been adding to in The Workshop now makes the perfect backdrop for photos. In the Hyurasenyak, Armenian weaver presented a silk carpet, which can take months or a year to complete, and ceremoniously cut it from its loom.

Today also saw both the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls and the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls perform their human towers side by side, and a special fireworks display by the Catalan beasts and devils.

The Festival ends tomorrow, but there’s still time to check out all of our incredible programs. If you’re coming with kids, start the day by earning the global folklorist badge in the Marketplace. Learn about the Armenian holiday Vardavar—known for the activity of splashing each other with water—and join in some celebratory dances on the Aygi Stage. Discuss crafts of Cameroonian fashion with designer Kibonen. Make sure you attend the Soul & Ink live screen-printing session to customize an original poster to take home.

Our final evening concert is Sisterfire, which celebrates the fortieth anniversary of Roadwork, a multiracial coalition that puts women artists on the road globally. Their diverse blend of influences from East African retro pop and jazz to classical canon and beatboxing end the 2018 Folklife Festival and provide a taste of our 2019 theme: the social power of music.

Elisa Hough is the editor for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Rachel Barton is the media intern for the 2018 Folklife Festival. Together they are Team Festival Blog.