42nd Northwest Folklife Festival

Every year since 1972, Northwest Folklife has presented the Northwest Folklife Festival over Memorial Day Weekend in Seattle Center. Make your visit to the 2013 Northwest Folklife Festival the best ever!

For over 40 years Northwest Folklife has produced the annual Northwest Folklife Festival, a celebration of musical and artistic traditions at Seattle Center that is now the nation's largest free community arts festival. You are invited to the greatest show of talent in the Northwest! Be part of the 42nd Northwest Folklife Festival this May 24-27 in Seattle Center. Enjoy and participate in your traditions! And experience other cultures by listening to their music, trying out their dances, and hearing their stories. And it's all FREE.

The 42nd Festival features a special focus on stories and personal histories from the workplace, in a multimedia program called Washington Works. Come hear the folklore of the labor movement, and stories of how jobs have changed over the years, through movies, storytelling, and historical presentations.

Here's a few other highlights to look forward to:

• The first-ever Norteña Dance Party with live dance bands!
• A new showcase focusing on traditional dance and music of Asia
• The return of the hugely popular Bollywood Showcase!
• Crowd-favorites Balkan Misfits Party and Monday night Reggae show
• The Tractor Tavern's Urban Square Dance for beginners and expert dancers
• Indie Roots music across all our stages

We can't guarantee the weather, but we can guarantee a great time with fantastic entertainment, food, family activities, shopping, beer gardens, and more.

Northwest Folklife has a long history of exploring a topic in depth at the annual Northwest Folklife Festival. For over a decade we have presented what we call the Cultural Focus, a "festival within a festival" that features a Pacific Northwest community through special performances, panels, workshops, exhibitions, demonstrations, and activities.

Each year for the Northwest Folklife Festival, we select a Cultural Focus. The Cultural Focus provides Northwest Folklife's staff the opportunity to learn more about a particular group or community, to share that knowledge with the public, and to make deep and lasting friendships with community members. In recent years, as Northwest Folklife expands its year-round programming, the Cultural Focus has become a larger program that begins before the annual Festival, and continues even after the Festival is over. For the 2013 Festival, the Cultural Focus will be Washington Works, exploring various aspects of occupational folklore in the Northwest.

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