Beads, felt and bark are turned into masterpieces at Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Simaloi Saitoti, a Maasai bead artist from Kenya, ties a bracelet around a visitor's wrist. Saitoti is one of many artisans around the world showcasing their works at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. (Phillip Ryan Lee/ Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution)

Since this blog began in 2014, we have covered the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. It's a two-week event in Washington, D.C., that brings artists and artisans from around the world to share their crafts, their songs, their food.

We've interviewed an Armenian calligrapher and a leather craftsman from Niger and attended a Peruvian alpaca blessing. We even sampled goat stew courtesy of a Kenyan chef with a restaurant in Washington, D.C.