It’s interesting to see certain themes emerge in visitor photos as we move through the Festival, and to observe which subjects hold the greatest appeal for photographers. The challenge of curating these Flickr galleries is balance–trying to choose the photos that are aesthetically appealing and also representative of the breadth and diversity of our programming. Creating the galleries is also a pleasure, because we love looking at the Festival from our visitors’ points of view. Keep those wonderful images coming!

Today we bring you our 7th fabulous Flickr gallery of the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Check it out here! Only three more daily galleries to go. If you’ve been thinking about adding your images to our Flickr group, now’s the time!

You can upload and share your own images to the 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival Flickr Group here. We pick a few of our favorite visitor photos or videos every day, and take them to a wider audience by featuring them on our Festival blog.

Twitter users, follow our Flickr Top Ten galleries with #FlickrTopTen and follow the Festival with #2012Folklife.

Not on Flickr? Sign up for free here.

Stay tuned for a new gallery each day.

Ariel Fielding is a former Folklife Festival Fellow in Community and Online Engagement. A lifelong photographer, Ariel built her first pinhole camera at the age of six, and learned to use a darkroom at the same age. She works as a performing arts producer in Toronto.