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, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. It brings together an estimated 250,000 visitors, 1,800 volunteers, and more than 6,000 musicians, dancers, and other performers. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.
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 free festival of its kind in North America.
The festival has several "main stages" set up throughout the area, which feature mostly local acts organized by the festival, and like the volunteers who run the festival they perform for free. However, buskers (or street performers) come to the festival from all over Washington state, Oregon and British Columbia, and are even more plentiful than the scheduled acts. The buskers include musicians, jugglers, circus performers, and magicians, and vary in age, style, and professionalism, all playing for donations from the crowds. Festival organizers recently began requiring that buskers donate 15% of their earnings (from any album sales) to the festival, which is the same asked of vendors.
The music featured both on and off stage expands on what the term "folk music" means. Traditional folk music from all over the world is performed, along with rockabilly, Balkan brass, folk punk, jug band, and other music that defies categorization. Dance performances include international folk dancing (such as Morris dancing as well as swing, and blues.
In addition to buskers and scheduled events, attendees engage in drum circles and impromptu jam sessions. The giant fountain in the center of Seattle Center is enjoyed by young and old as a water park. Since the festival is free, people often come to picnic, sunbathe, or just enjoy the grounds.
Vendors include food, novelties, and handmade goods such as arts, crafts, and clothing.
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