Festival Blog

Passamaquoddy is a unique language spoken by the Wabanaki Indians of northern Maine, with only a few hundred native speakers left.

Glenna Cooper, a graduate student at Gallaudet University, recounts how her father supported her during an early experience of discrimination.

One day during the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, a group of participants in the Hungarian Heritage program staged a wedding procession wearing costumes typical of the Szék region of Transylvania, Romania.

Milliner Anthony Gaskins discussed the history of hats in the African American community and also displayed some of his work in a fashion show at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

A process of cultural renewal and linguistic revival is taking place in Kalmykia, Russia, home to the westernmost group of Mongolic peoples.

The Passamaquoddy Wabanaki Indians of northern Maine have gone to great lengths to restore and revitalize the cultural knowledge and traditions of their ancestors.

The Bolivian group Los Masis have been playing traditional Andean music for more than 40 years. They are dedicated to the preservation of the indigenous Quechua language and culture.

Tibor Gáts is an award-winning maker of Hungarian folk instruments, specializing in the zither and the gardon.

The Dimen Dong Folk Chorus from the Guizhou Province of China performs an excerpt of the cicada song, in which the singers mimic the sound of an insect commonly found in their village.