For forty-eight years, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival has gathered people from around the globe on the National Mall to celebrate the best of the human spirit. In response, millions of visitors have been inspired, challenged, and delighted by culture bearers manifesting the ordinary and the astounding. The Folklife Festival's history is a remarkable one in which creativity and culture have transformed grass, gravel, and trees into a vibrant landscape for exploration and exchange.

The 2014 Festival added another chapter to that history with programs illuminating the cultural heritage of China and Kenya. With song and story, movement and craft in tow, exemplars of traditional genres demonstrated practices that continue to resonate in our modern world. The alchemy of their presence and the curiosity of visitors is what drives the Festival.

The 2014 Festival took place for two five-day weeks (June 25-29 and July 2-6) between Madison Drive and Jefferson Drive and between 9th Street and 12th Street, south of the National Museum of Natural History. It featured two programs and special events including the Rinzler Concert.