This year, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s themes are Bhutan, NASA, and Texas.
The festival is on right now now through Sunday and 7/2-7/6. The Smithsonian website describes this year’s themes:
“Bhutan: Land of the Thunder Dragon
Celebrating Bhutan’s special approach towards life in the 21st century
NASA: Fifty Years and Beyond
Showcasing the role that the men and women of NASA have played in broadening the horizons of American science and culture
Texas: A Celebration of Music, Food, and Wine
Exploring a dynamic and creative society, built upon rich natural resources, thriving cosmopolitan cities and engaging rural landscapes”
On the food side:
Texas:
“…see demonstrations of wine making; enjoy diverse culinary traditions, old and new, from barbeque to Vietnamese soups, from kolach making to chicken fried steak.”
Bhutan:
“Since the Festival is intended to be as experiential as possible, cooking demonstrations and conversations about Bhutanese foodways will also take place. This is an important aspect of contemporary culture and gives insight into home and farm life.”
Nasa will have a “food lab” covering topics such as creating menus for space, packaging food for space, and planning for the moon and mars.
They will only be be selling food from two of the three exhibit areas. NASA is the exception, so don’t expect any Space Food. Freeze-dried icecream or Orange Tang, anyone?
Click here for the Festival Menu! This year’s food vendors are Indique Hieghts, Capital Q, La Mexicana Bakery, and Asian Grille. This sure sounds good:
Nakey Tshoem
Chicken (shredded), fiddleheads, cheese, chiles, onion, garlic, ginger, and special seasonings served with Bhutanese rice.