Although the programs at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival change every year, recurring themes and scenes emerge. It’s a reminder that all cultures, even those rooted in opposite ends of the earth, share similarities and sychronicities.

As we began reviewing our volunteers’ photos of the 2023 Festival, we noticed many that resemble familiar images from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives, which holds Festival records going back to its start in 1967. In the Creative Encounters and Ozarks programs, there are venues, demonstrations, and art installations that hark back to past programs, from before either of us were born and from our time on staff in the past ten years.

Use the sliders below to get a glimpse of how elements of sport, religion, and agriculture have always been present here. And baskets—it wouldn’t be a Folklife Festival without baskets.

Kentucky’s horse culture was a central focus of the Regional America program in 1973. Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Seth Gebel and Dave Shulz ride the custom mountain bike trail feature, a smaller and tamer version of what you can find in the forests of the Ozarks. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Jam sessions were a common occurrence at the Folklife Festival in the 1960s and 1970s. Photo by Reed & Susan Erskine, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

And what better time to bring back the tradition than a feature on the Ozarks! Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

In 1985, Azzie Rolan represented basketmaking traditions from Louisiana. Photo by Jeff Tinsley, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

In 2023, Billy Owens did the same for the Ozarks. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

The altar has been a familiar sight at the Festival, even before this year’s focus on religion. This one is from the 1991 Land in Native American Cultures program. Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

This summer, the Esparzas have built one of many altars on the National Mall, based on the rituals of Día de los Muertos. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Anthony “Tony Macaroni” Hanna fired up the grill in the 1994 Commonwealth of the Bahamas program. Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Now it’s Phyllis Speer who has been demonstrating outdoor cooking, Ozarks-style. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

The garden can be a source of so much knowledge: culinary, medicinal, botanical. This one in the 1997 Mississippi Delta program also featured a bottle tree—a Southern fixture for warding off evil spirits. Photo by Jeff Tinsley, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Our Ozarks Teaching Garden is home to herbalists, healers, farmers, and foragers. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

We love boats! And the logistical challenge of getting them to the National Mall! This dhow came in a sea container from Lamu, Kenya, courtesy of carpenter Ali Abdalla Skanda. Photo by Willa Friedman, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Now the Marshallese artisans from the Ozarks present their outrigger canoe with woven pandanus sail. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Finally, some of the ephemeral art of the Festival: the alfombra de aserrín, or Central American ceremonial sawdust carpet. Los Viajeros de la Americas created this one in 2017 for the On the Move: Migration Across Generations program. Photo by Caroline Angelo, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

The group returned this year as part of Creative Encounters. Photo by Josh Weilepp, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives

Elisa Hough is the editor and web content manager for the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Josh Weilepp is the current digital asset management assistant for the Festival and former digital imaging specialist contractor in the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives.