July 7: The 42nd Smithsonian Folklife Festival continues to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors at the National Mall in Washington DC. With only a few days left, the number of visitors is only increasing.

Our reporter Tshewang Dendup who is one of the presenters at the festival says the Bhutan section continues to draw visitors in droves.

Bhutan continues to join NASA and Texas in the celebration at the 42nd Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. Visitors have to plan well because the activities are spread over an area of three football fields and one cannot see all of them in just a day. From demonstrations of Bhutan's mask dances to the Texas two steps and waltz, the festival is one big party that brings people from all age groups, all parts of the United States and indeed the world.

At the food stalls, the visitor can sample dishes including Bhutan's ema datsi and the Mexican cuisines of the state of Texas which has a sizeable Hispanic population.

At the NASA section, visitors can look at the vacuum packed food that is consumed by the astronauts.

Organizers say some one and a half million people are expected to visit the festival.

For the Bhutanese at the festival, life moves at a pace almost like the one at home. The festival opens with a chipdrel procession every day. The microphones placed inside the temple are hooked up to a speaker that is placed outside and mingles with the music of Texas.

At the archery range, the shooters and the singers will lunge into an impromptu singing and dancing enticing the children and the adult visitors to join the circle.

All around the festival ground, it is a party atmosphere. The festival closes everyday at 5:30 pm. The Bhutanese delegation heads back to the hotel in busloads. After a shower to cool off in the hot and humid Washington weather, they hit the dining hall where the hotel staff have ensured that there are two big bowls of eze, lots of rice and beef curry.