On a steamy summer day, several Living Wages staff and volunteers accompanied students to the National Mall to attend the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. While attendance at the festival fulfilled an academic requirement, it also fulfilled another important requirement, FUN. We were surrounded by the sights and sounds of three cultural regions, South East Asia, Northern Ireland and Virginia. We listened to the African inspired music that arrived in Virginia through the slave trade and which help spring more contemporary forms of Folk music. There was an opportunity for one of the students to get up on stage and dress in authentic West African clothing. She presided over her royal court, as an Ashanti Queen. This was the highlight of the trip, which also included performances from Thailand and Northern Ireland, as well as a variety of ethic food and drinks. It was a great opportunity for us all to get out of the classroom and visit South East Asia, Northern Ireland, and Virginia while staying in our own back yard.