| Northwest Folklife Folklife | |
|---|---|
 Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center during Northwest Folklife Festival 2007 | |
| Genre | Music, dance, arts & crafts |
| Begins | Friday before Memorial Day |
| Ends | Memorial Day |
| Frequency | Annually |
| Location(s) | Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington |
| Years active | 53 |
| Inaugurated | 1971 |
| Most recent | 2023 |
| Participants | 7,800 |
| Patron(s) | 250,000 |
| Website | nwfolklife.org |
| [1][2] | |
Northwest Folklife is an independent 501(c)(3) arts organization that celebrates the multigenerational arts, cultures, and traditions of a global Pacific Northwest.
The Northwest Folklife Festival is an annual festival of ethnic, folk, and traditional art, crafts, and music that takes place over the Memorial Day weekend in Seattle, Washington at Seattle Center. It brings together an estimated 250,000 visitors, 800 volunteers, and about 6,000 musicians, dancers, and other performers. Admission is without charge thanks to community support and donations from attendees. Greeters at the entrances encourage visitors to make donations and special buttons with yearly designs are exchanged for donations.[1][2]
Northwest Folklife was founded in 1971 by the Seattle Folklore Society, the National Park Service, the National Folk Festival Association (now the National Council for the Traditional Arts), and the City of Seattle, as part of the Park Service's urban outreach program to allow the people of its Northwest Region (including Alaska) to publicly present what they "make for their own use and do for their own entertainment." The first festival was first held in 1972 and has since grown to become the largest festival of its kind in North America.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Folklife was cancelled for 2020 and was deferred to 2021.[3]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
seattle_timeswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
seattle_pi_2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Northwest Folklife Festival postponed due to coronavirus pandemic". The Seattle Times. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2021.