Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Summer is in full swing here in DC. I always know that summer has arrived when I see the 'Folk Life Festival' signs and big white tents going up on the National Mall. Each year, the Smithsonian hosts a 2 week festival of living culture. Check out their website here.

This year the nation is Bhutan, the state is Texas and the 'other' is NASA. Michelle and I walked through some of the Bhutan exhibits today. Over the next couple of weeks I'll go back to visit the Texas and NASA exhibits.

While we were walking through the festival we decided to get some lunch. We shared Bhutan's national dish of chili peppers and cheese over rice. At one point I was convinced that the burning was never going to stop. Here's a picture of the chili peppers we didn't eat! We were also going to buy some water but because it was so hot outside they were giving the water away for free!

Food:
I was also impressed by the variety of arts that were displayed.

Embroidery:
Dancing:
Knife carving:Traditional outfit:
Weaving: