The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is annual event, sponsored by the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, that celebrates cultural traditions around the world. The 2007 program highlights diverse cultures of the Mekong River; Northern Ireland and the roots of Virginia.

This is a cultural performance of the Mekong River, a region with close ties to the United States by recent historical events and by the more than 2 million Americans who trace their ancestry to Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and the Chinese province of Yunnan.