The Northwest Folklife Festival is officially here—the kick-off happened at noon, and the festivities explode from there and run all the way through Monday of this Memorial Day Weekend at Seattle Center. But what is there to do? Everything! Too much! In fact, it can be a bit intimidating for the uninitiated, as the all-ages event drawing attention to the diverse cultures that have taken up root in the Pacific Northwest is huge; Folklife encompasses more than 5,000 performers, and draws from over 100 cultural communities.
So here are five things you should do at the 47th annual event.
1) Check out Food Demonstrations at the Cultural Cuisine and Narrative Stage
The food demos are all related to Northwest Folklife’s 2018 Cultural Focus Programming, ‘Echoes of Aztlán and Beyond,’ which sheds light on the Mexican American and Chicana/o Communities in the Northwest.
According to Northwest Folklife’s Executive Artistic Director Kelli Faryar, “Through cooking demonstrations and exploring ancient ingredients such as corn, the Cultural Cuisine Stage will showcase and share the important role food plays to connect generations within the Mexican/Chicana/o community.”
Demo highlights include Cooking Asparagus Tamales with Felipe Hernandez (the Los Hernandez Tamales co-owner was named one of five recipients of a James Beard ‘America’s Classics’ award in 2018); according to Faryar, his tamales recipe “has shined a light on Union Gap and the Yakima Valley.” (Sunday, noon-12:45 p.m.) Another stand-out: What is Authentic? with Roberto Salmero, owner of Taco Chukis (Sunday, 2:45-3:30 p.m.), during which he’ll share his story of biking from Seattle to Mexico to find his roots at the age of 22, and how he returned invigorated and ready to share his heritage by way of tacos.
2) Seek out KEXP’s Indie Roots Programming and KNKX’s New Cool Show
With upwards of 5,200 performers and 780 performances spread over 26 stages, there’s literally a ridiculous amount of entertainment happening at Folklife. At least you can count on KEXP (arguably Seattle’s best radio station) to offer some high-quality presentations, including a Women of the West Showcase on the Fountain Lawn Stage (Annie Ford Band, Elke Robitaille Band, Joy Mills Band, Sunday, 3:30-5:45 p.m.), and a Ladies of Neo Soul Show on the Fisher Green Stage (Momma Nikki, Falon Sierra, and SPHIE, Sunday, 7:45-10 p.m.).
And Seattle’s reputable jazz station KNKX has something rad to offer, too: the New Cool Show, featuring DJ Abe Beeson’s take on far-future, avant-garde jazz and brass, with 322, Bad News Botanists, and Ten Man Brass Band. (Saturday, 12:45-3 p.m., Fountain Lawn Stage).
3) Soak up some non-American culture in addition to that PACNW sun.
There is just so much to see, hear, and experience at Folklife that it’s near impossible not to discover something fresh, exciting, or utterly new to you—it’s what the fest is all about, after all. There’s a Bollywood Showcase featuring Northwest troupes (Friday, 5:45-7:15 p.m., Exhibition Hall Stage), Irish Country Dance workshops as led by the Northwest branch of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann (Monday, 3-3:50 p.m., Fisher Pavilion), a Balkan Misfits presentation (“wild and woolly Balkan roots music, with all its clashing dissonance and fantastic brass lines”) featuring Balkanarama, The m9, and Eurodanceparty USA (Saturday, 7-9 p.m., Fountain Lawn), a Hawaiian Showcase that spotlights four of the best hula hālaus (schools) in the Northwest (Sunday, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., McCaw Hall), and the festival’s traditional closer, the Reggae Rising Party with Clinton Fearon & Boogie Brown Band (Monday, 6-9 p.m., Mural Amphitheatre)
4) Eat food from someplace new. Then have a classic.
There are a vast array of food vendors (more than 30) at Northwest Folklife Festival. Before you pig out on American and fair classics like burgers, elephant ears, strawberry shortcake, PB&J (deep-fried, no less), or mac n’ cheese (all of which are offered), investigate the array of ethnic food that includes harder-to-find fare (like Afghani, Sicilian, Belizean, Lebanese, and Kenyan cuisine, and food from the Northeast African Coast), fare Seattle is known for having an abundance of (Vietnamese, Hawaiian), and tastes of everything else you could possibly want to eat from various regions around the country and the world (French crepes and New Orleans beignets, Greek gyros, Russian dumplings, Mexican seafood, German brats, and so much more).
5) Bring the kids to The Discover Zone; they’ll have a good time, I can guarantee it.
When the nanny came to get the babe this morning, she advised that pick-up would be at Folklife, and my guess is she and her crew of kids will be parked at The Discovery Zone (located in the Next 50 Pavilion), described as “a place to explore, create, and have fun with the whole family.” I must admit, I’m envious that I can’t tag along today. Here, there are performances for kids (Uncle Pappy, Chumble Spudz), performances by kids and young adults (Vancouver Fiddle Harmonic, Seattle Waldorf High School World Rhythm Ensemble, Maplewood K-8 Orchestra, The Musical Socks), and a vast array of interactive diversions, activities, and sing- and dance-alongs (the AfroBeats Participatory Dance workshop with Tricia Diamond of Seattle Twerkshop sounds like too much fun).
The suggested daily donation for entry into Northwest Folklife Festival is $10 per person, $20 per family.
