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Northwest Folklife Festival

Calendar/Event Details

Photo by Christopher Nelson

Taking place May 24 - 27, 2019 at Seattle Center.

FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE
Committed to Access for All | Powered by Your Donations
Suggested Donation: $10 per person | $20 per family

Each year, Northwest Folklife and Seattle Center partner to present the Northwest Folklife Festival, one of the largest, multicultural, access-for-all festivals in the nation! This is the place to learn, dance, play, try something new, and to discover the arts and cultures that thrive in our Pacific Northwest communities.

Presenting more than 5,000 performers, the Festival draws from the 100+ cultural communities that Northwest Folklife collaborates with year-round. The festival is more than a celebration of the diversity of the Pacific Northwest, it’s a chance to engage directly with the many communities that make up our region. The Northwest Folklife Festival is our key annual event bringing up to 250,000 people over four days to the Seattle Center.

The Northwest Folklife Festival is committed to access for all and POWERED BY YOU. Please make a donation to help preserve this Seattle treasure now and in the future. 
Suggested Daily Donation: $10 per person | $20 per family.

2019 Cultural Focus: Youth Rising

Youth Rising is a year-long series featuring mentorship programs, youth residency projects, and a collection of youth-organized performances and events highlighted at the 48th annual Northwest Folklife Festival (May 24 - 27, 2019). Youth Rising is a platform for the voices of youth leaders, artists, musicians, and changemakers.

As folk is "for the people, by the people," this Cultural Focus program will be curated "for and by the youth."

Over the past five years, Northwest Folklife has focused its work on building intentional cultural spaces for youth and families to share and celebrate the vitality of folk and evolving arts through programs, such as the Our Big Neighborhood program and our 2018 pilot program, the Próxima Generación: Youth Residency Project. In 2019, we will dedicate a whole year of programming to youth-focused and youth-led cultural activities under the umbrella of our 2019 Cultural Focus: Youth Rising. Serving as a mentorship program, this Cultural Focus will connect youth with culture bearers of all ages to collaborate and share ideas, thus building a stronger community. The passing down of traditions from culture bearers through intergenerational dialogue fosters growth and reach that is only possible when a community is able to nurture its roots.

Event Details