May 22-25, 2026
As the final installation of our 5-part Cultural Focus series, Ubuntu is an African philosophy, congregating humanity with the common phrase, “I am because we are”.. As we reflect on the lessons learned from the last 4 years–Metamorphosis, Lagom, Meraki, and Ikigai–we look to the concepts identified with Ubuntu as a way to re-examine our interconnectedness, our solidarity with one another, and our commitment to treating each other with respect and dignity.
Our humanity is rooted in the relationships that we hold with people. People that we have both met and not met–consciously, subconsciously, and unconsciously. It is a testament to the undeniable fact that we are tethered to each other, whether we know them or not. That an action or an encounter can have a ripple effect on our immediate time and place, as well as somewhere halfway across the world.
While this year’s Cultural Focus explores how we co-exist in this world, as the last part of our series, it also underscores the journey that people take to reach that co-existence. The nonmonolithic nature of our personhood means that our journeys can be intertwined and can also be separate.
Our path to ubuntu isn’t a linear one. It’s a passageway of change and transition, cause and effect (Metamorphosis). A journey that keeps us on our toes in an ever changing landscape (Lagom). A wandering for the belief that our hopes can feed our dreams (Meraki). A pilgrimage that strengthens our resolve and honors our convictions (Ikigai). These are paths that we all take at various and multiple times in our lives.
Ubuntu is the result of an audacity to believe that we are part of something bigger than just ourselves. Change, balance, passion, and purpose are all lessons towards an endgame that is both simpler and more complex than we ever imagined. It’s a lesson that reminds us that FOLK is where it starts and where it ends.
Poster Artists
Saiyare Refaei
Saiyare Refaei (they/them/she/her) is a Chinese Iranian artist based in Tacoma, Washington. Their mediums mostly include community murals, printmaking and meticulous pointillism drawings mostly. Saiyare strives to utilize art as a means of community building, education and healing. They enjoy working collaboratively and being a conduit to visualize the stories that need to be told in our communities.
Charde' Brown
I am a self-taught artist from Washington, where I find inspiration in the serene landscape and diverse community. With a versatile arsenal of acrylic paint, mixed media, as well as soft and oil pastels, I seek to unravel the complexities of inhibitions and the human psyche. By creating a safe space for those who feel invisible, my work not only fosters empathy but also shines a compassionate light on mental well-being.
Allina Hakim
Allina is an artist of all mediums. Be it poetry, paintings, sculpture, sketches on napkins, or photography. Allina has displayed her work at Seattle Center three times. She has also shown at The Stonehouse Cafe, Club Sur, and at the Love City Love exhibition March 2019, all in Seattle. She holds a BA of Applied Art and Interior Design from Bellevue College. She also studied graphic design at the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA.
Instagram: @TintaViva__
Special Activations
SuperFolk
SuperFolk brings together artists from different backgrounds and styles to demonstrate in real time how music and art can change and morph as the artform and the story get passed around and improvised over! Generations of migrations have informed the evolution of the culture, sometimes giving it new shape and purpose.
Check out the schedule for the 4 SuperFolk showcases at this year's festival!
Smithsonian Folklife
Festival of Festivals 2026
Smithsonian Folklife collaborates with Northwest Folklife to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, taking the Smithsonian's oldest and largest public program—the annual Folklife Festival—on the road to communities across the country and to U.S. territories.
Community Foodways Kitchen
Community Foodways is a new addition to our festival showcasing culturally representative cuisine found locally in the Pacific Northwest. Ubuntu is found at the kitchen table, as food has always brought people together. Food is an invitation to culture through the land that grows it, the hands that harvest it, the families that prepare it, and the community that shares it.
Threads of the People
Threads of the People is our take on a fashion show, featuring a mix of runway shows, workshops and demos, vendor booths, displays and material swaps. This new addition to the festival will explore fashion as a folk art, the ways in which fashion and culture are interwoven, and seek to bring fashion back to its roots - when our clothing was created in homes, by hand, and from materials found in our natural environment.
Read More or Apply!
Kuleana Courtyard
NW Folklife’s exploration of the Folk vocation, bringing the people, communities, organizations, and cooperatives who are actively engaging in techniques that promote bio- diversity, support sustainable & healthy food production, and give strength to the cause of food justice, security, and sovereignty.
Read more or Apply!
Community Quilt
Northwest Folklife will be celebrating the folk art of quilting at the 2025 Northwest Folklife Festival. We will be soliciting 15” quilt blocks from the community to be displayed at the 2025 Northwest Folklife festival. After the festival, the blocks will be sewn into a community quilt.