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    • 2010s
      • 2018
        • Armenia
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      • 2016
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      • 2015
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      • 2013
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        • One World, Many Voices
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        • The Will to Adorn
      • 2012
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      • 2011
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      • 2010
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    • 2000s
      • 2009
        • Giving Voice
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        • Special Events (2009)
        • Wales Smithsonian Cymru
      • 2008
        • Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon
        • NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond
        • Special Events (2008)
        • Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine
      • 2007
        • Mekong River: Connecting Cultures
        • Northern Ireland at the Smithsonian
        • Roots of Virginia Culture: The Past is Present
        • Special Events (2007)
      • 2006
        • Alberta at the Smithsonian
        • Carriers of Culture: Living Native Basket Traditions
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        • Special Events (2006)
      • 2005
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        • Forest Service, Culture, and Community
        • Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture (2005)
        • Oman: Desert, Oasis, and Sea
        • Special Events (2005)
      • 2004
        • Haiti: Freedom and Creativity from the Mountains to the Sea
        • Nuestra Música: Music in Latino Culture (2004)
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        • Water Ways
      • 2003
        • Appalachia: Heritage and Harmony
        • Mali: From Timbuktu to Washington
        • Scotland at the Smithsonian
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      • 2002
        • The Silk Road
      • 2001
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      • 2000
        • El Río
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        • Tibetan Culture Beyond the Land of Snows
        • Washington, D.C.: It's Our Home
    • 1990s
      • 1999
        • Celebrating New Hampshire's Stories
        • Gateways to Romania
        • South Africa: Crafting the Economic Renaissance of the Rainbow Nation
        • Special Events (1999)
      • 1998
        • Pahiyas: A Philippine Harvest
        • Special Events (1998)
        • The Baltic Nations: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
        • The Rio Grande/Río Bravo Basin
        • Wisconsin
      • 1997
        • African Immigrant Folklife
        • Sacred Sounds: Belief & Society
        • Special Events (1997)
        • The Mississippi Delta
      • 1996
        • Iowa - Community Style
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      • 1995
        • Heartbeat: The Voices of First Nations Women
        • Russian Roots, American Branches: Music in Two Worlds
        • Special Events (1995)
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        • The Czech Republic: Tradition and Transformation
      • 1994
        • Culture and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean
        • Masters of Traditional Arts: The National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellows
        • Thailand: Household, Temple Fair & Court
        • The Commonwealth of The Bahamas
      • 1993
        • American Social Dance
        • Kids' Stuff
        • Metro Music
        • U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
      • 1992
        • Creativity and Resistance: Maroon Culture in the Americas
        • New Mexico
        • The Changing Soundscape in Indian Country
        • Workers at the White House
      • 1991
        • Family Farming in the Heartland
        • Forest, Field and Sea: Folklife in Indonesia
        • Land in Native American Cultures
        • Roots of Rhythm and Blues: The Robert Johnson Era
      • 1990
        • Musics of Struggle
        • Senegal
        • U.S. Virgin Islands
    • 1980s
      • 1989
        • American Indian Program
        • Cultural Conservation (1989)
        • Hawai'i
        • Les Fêtes Chez Nous: France and North America
        • The Caribbean: Cultural Encounters in the New World
      • 1988
        • American Folklore Society Centennial
        • Festival Music Stage
        • Ingenuity and Tradition: The Common Wealth of Massachusetts
        • Migration to Metropolitan Washington: Making a New Place Home
        • Music from the Peoples of the Soviet Union
      • 1987
        • Cultural Conservation and Languages: America's Many Voices
        • Metropolitan Washington
        • Michigan
      • 1986
        • 20th Anniversary Music Stage
        • American Trial Lawyers
        • Cultural Conservation: Traditional Crafts in a Post-Industrial Age
        • Japan: Rice in Japanese Folk Culture
        • Tennessee
      • 1985
        • Cultural Conservation (1985)
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        • Mela! An Indian Fair
        • Special Events (1985)
      • 1984
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      • 1983
        • Aviation Program
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        • New Jersey
      • 1982
        • Children's Program (1982)
        • Korea
        • National Heritage Fellowships Program (1982)
        • Oklahoma
      • 1981
        • A Celebration of the American Tent Show
        • Adobe Architecture
        • Arts Endowment Folk Arts Program
        • Children's Program (1981)
        • Folklore of the Deaf
        • Music and Crafts of the Southeastern United States
        • Northeastern Music and Dance
        • Ojibwa Culture
        • South Slavic Americans
      • 1980
        • American Talkers
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        • Community Activities and Food Preservation
        • Finnish Americans
        • Folk Housing and Energy Efficiency
        • Southeast Asian Americans
    • 1970s
      • 1979
        • Caribbean Carnival
        • Children's Area
        • Folklife in the Museum - Folk Medicine
        • Folklore in Your Community
        • Medicine Show
        • Native American Architecture
      • 1978
        • Chesapeake Bay Traditions
        • Children's Folklife
        • Coal Miners & Oil Workers
        • D.C. Folklore
        • Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (1978)
        • Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (1978)
        • Mexican & Mexican American Traditions
        • Other Programs (1978)
        • San Juan Pueblo Culture
      • 1977
        • African Diaspora Street Culture
        • America's Appetite (for Energy)
        • Folklife in the Museum: A Nation of Nations (1977)
        • Folklife in the Museum: Hall of Musical Instruments
        • Folklife in the Museum: Renwick Gallery (1977)
        • Native American Musical Styles
        • Other Programs (1977)
        • Virginia Folk Culture
      • 1976
        • African Diaspora (1976)
        • Children's Program (1976)
        • Family Folklore (1976)
        • Festival Stage (1976)
        • Native Americans (1976)
        • Old Ways in the New World (1976)
        • Regional America (1976)
        • Working Americans (1976)
      • 1975
        • African Diaspora (1975)
        • Children's Program (1975)
        • Family Folklore (1975)
        • Festival Stage (1975)
        • Native Americans (1975)
        • Old Ways in the New World (1975)
        • Regional America (1975)
        • Working Americans (1975)
      • 1974
        • African Diaspora (1974)
        • Children's Program (1974)
        • Family Folklore (1974)
        • Festival Stage (1974)
        • Native Americans (1974)
        • Old Ways in the New World (1974)
        • Regional America (1974)
        • Working Americans (1974)
      • 1973
        • Native Americans (1973)
        • Old Ways in the New World (1973)
        • Regional America (1973)
        • Working Americans (1973)
      • 1972
        • Maryland
        • Southwest Indians
        • Union Workers
      • 1971
        • Northwest Coast Indians
        • Ohio
        • Performances (1971)
      • 1970
        • Arkansas
        • Crafts (1970)
        • Performances (1970)
        • Southern Plains Indians
    • 1960s
      • 1969
        • Crafts (1969)
        • Pennsylvania
        • Performances (1969)
        • Toby Show
      • 1968
        • Crafts (1968)
        • Performances (1968)
        • Texas
      • 1967
        • Crafts (1967)
        • Performances (1967)
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History

Festival Blog

Posts tagged with History

  • Grid of six black-and-white photographs of a crowded outdoor event.

    History

    These Photos Visualize the Legacy of Peter Spencer, Founder of the First Independent Black Church
    August 10, 2026 | Morgan Joiner

    The church was home to the August Quarterly Festival, still running 212 years later.

    more
  • History, Storytelling

    Embodied Legacy: Malcolm Davis and the Living Story of Monk Estill
    October 1, 2025 | Jeffrey Gerald

    Davis’s body, voice, and presence channel histories that were nearly lost—stolen by erasure, whitewashing, and cultural neglect.

    more
  • A woman wearing a red T-shirt and buffalo-print skirt holds up a piece of dark buffalo horn to show to another person. Another woman sits at a table set with an open, brown wool-coated box full of pamphlets.

    Environment, History

    Reviving the Sacred Bond: Native Tribes and the Cultural Legacy of the American Bison
    July 17, 2024 | Hannah Pomeranzeva

    “It’s in our DNA to share this relationship with them.”

    more
  • A photo of red borshch in a bowl, garnished with sour cream and dill.

    Foodways, History, Immigration & Migration

    A Brief History of Borshch
    July 3, 2023 | Daniel Zhang

    In 2022, UNESCO declared the iconic sour soup Ukrainian “cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding.”

    more
  • Gravel road sloping down toward a red-roofed farmhouse in the distance and bare trees at the horizon.

    History

    An Introduction to the Ozarks: It’s Not What You Might Expect
    April 2, 2023 | Brooks Blevins

    Welcome to the Ozarks, an American region with no single story to tell.

    more
  • Illustration of an African Muslim man kneeling in prayer. Above, an Arabic phrase translates to, “And we have our responsibilities, and you have your responsibilities, and to Him we are sincere.”

    History, Social Justice

    The Malê Rebellion in Bahia: Brazil’s African Muslim Uprising
    May 18, 2020 | Narlan Matos

    The Malê Rebellion of 1835 was a religious and racial uprising against slavery and the supremacy of the Catholic religion led by African Muslims.

    more
  • Collection of punk fanzines featuring D.C. band Fugazi.

    Art & Design, History, Music

    Back to Base: Fugazi & the D.C. Punk Zine Scene
    April 26, 2019 | John Davis

    Fanzines are independent, often highly personal, small-run publications created by fans of a specific subject.

    more
  • American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius). Photo by Dan J. Pittillo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

    History, Traditional Knowledge

    The Mysterious Powers of American Ginseng
    March 27, 2019 | Astrid Stephenson

    What medicinal and economic benefits does this native root hold?

    more
  • Cultural Transmission, History

    Transformations in Catalan Culture
    October 29, 2018 | Pablo Giori

    In broad terms, we could say that there have been three major transformations in Catalan culture over the past 150 years.

    more
  • Montserrat mountain from Castellbell i el Vilar

    History, Religion & Spirituality

    “We Were Trained to Be Democrats”:
    The Power of Montserrat
    August 3, 2018 | Meritxell Martín i Pardo

    For over one thousand years, Montserrat and its community have shaped Catalonia.

    more
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    Posts by Festival

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