Northwest Folklife

Northwest Folklife's programs have developed directly out of the needs of the communities with which we work. They can be found in schools, public housing communities and community centers. They are designed to enhance the understanding and importance of our cultural heritage. Traditional arts express cultural identity and provide a tool to help understand community diversity. The scope of our programs includes: Northwest Folklife Festival, Northwest Folklife Recordings, and Rhythm & Moves.

Northwest Folklife Festival, held over Memorial Day weekend, is one of the largest, varied and most vibrant free folklife celebrations in North America. Produced by Northwest Folklife and Seattle Center, it hosts more than 7,000 participants, over 20 stages and venues, roughly 1000 performances, and an audience of approximately 250,000 at the 74-acre Seattle Center. Participants immerse themselves in four days of music and dance performances, visual arts and folklore exhibits, symposia, workshops, craft and cooking demonstrations and films.

Folklore Research and Projects consists of fieldwork and planning within a diverse group of local ethnic communities. We meet with community leaders and advisory committees to identify folk art masters, community rituals, and group capabilities and to devise ways in which that community can promote an understanding of itself within the region. The outcome can take any number of forms including workshops, concerts, exhibits, tours and special events. Northwest Folklife has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Lila Wallace - Reader's Digest Fund, Washington State Arts Commission, Washington Commission for the Humanities, King County Arts Commission, Seattle Arts Commission, foundations and companies such as Boeing and SAFECO for its work with many regional ethnic communities.

Northwest Folklife Recordings developed out of 25 years of recording special concerts at the Festival, from folklorists working in the field and from the renowned Ethnomusicology Archives of the University of Washington.

The label features singular chronicles such as Washington Fiddlers (Volume I and II) - a compilation of artists from the Northwest old-time fiddle community; Ki Ho'Alu - Seattle Style Hawai'ian Slack Key Guitar - the introduction of this popular Hawai'ian hybrid into mainstream music from their Festival performances; and Say a Song - Joe Heaney. The legendary Irish musician is the debut subject of Northwest Archives, a new label of selected recordings from the University of Washington collection.

Also on the Archives label:
Recordando a Venezuela by Rafael Angel y los Hermanos Aparicios and Under the Earth Tones: Ambient Didgeridoo Meditations by the Didgeri Dudes with Stuart Dempster.

Rhythm & Moves