53rd Annual Northwest Folklife Festival

53rd Annual Northwest Folklife Festival, May 24-27, 2024

We're excited to announce that the 2024 Cultural Focus is Meraki.

Meraki marks the 3rd chapter of our 5-year Cultural Focus storyline. Meraki derives from the Greek language and means doing something with passion, soul, and love. In 2022, our first in-person festival out of the pandemic, Metamorphosis asked that we accept and welcome change and transformation as a natural part of our everyday folk lives. In 2023, Lagom compelled us to accept change as part of a journey towards finding a new balance within ourselves, our communities, and our larger ecosystem. From that place of balance, Meraki urges us to seek that which gives us joy, so that whatever we put our minds to can be approached and accomplished with a sense of pride, soulfulness, and discipline. 

We look forward to next year's festival and can't wait to see you there!

Image: Kids dance during a family-friendly performance at a past Folklife Festival. Credit: Christopher Nelson