Northwest Folklife

I originally didn’t even know this was happening, but I found this as I was checking out the Seattle Center! The summer festival is about as hippie as you can get, but it also has a decent amount of booths that sell arts from various cultures mainly African, Tibetan, and native American. Although I didn’t buy anything, I thought it was cool to see works from both familiar and new cultures. Definitely a cool free thing to check out if you are sightseeing in the Seattle Center!

I’m not sure why I even come to this event; it’s a hot mess. Drugs everywhere, long lines to mediocre food vendors, and maybe along the way, you might find a true local vendor… surrounded by weird vendors hocking Tibetan, and African wares. If this is Northwest «folklife» it’s more of an extreme slice of capitol hill. I’m a local, and normally a passive-​aggressive Seattlite is my profession, but this event is for the hipsters and hippies.
Buskers were everywhere blocking the way, making pileups and stoppages; sure they might have a cool act to be seen, it’s a pain. Folklife should make an effort to give them places to do this, without making a people traffic mess. I wasn’t in the mood to stand there and watch, because of the rampant drug use. I get it’s legal, but when I’m partially allergic to that crap, and it’s blown into my face; I want to punch that person in the mouth.
The place was a mess, people were just throwing their trash everywhere (not enough trash cans), and others climbing trees and trashcans, and other things, that had no real reason, other than they were probably high, literately and figuratively.
Don’t get me wrong, there are good things, I found a great local vendor, who was selling some amazing preserves, from a local farm. That is awesome, I support artists who have great crafts.
It’s free, and you can expect a wide mess of people, vendors, and performers… I just wish there was a little more organization, and less (or no) drugs.

Pretty disappointed this year. Other than the musicians (which were great) there were many people doing drugs (not just smoking) and the police would just walk by and turn a cheek to it. The landscaping was completely ruined by the crowds. There was vandalism everywhere. Litter, trash, I was unimpressed.
In past years it has been much better than this.
Vendors and food were still decent, though.

This fun free event with music and food. I have not gone for a while and will come back next year.

This is a fun festival to go to if you just want to spend your time outside for a while and enjoy Seattle for what it is, very hipster city. You kinda get sucked into the whole hippie/​hipster world and then I have to remind myself No!!! you will not turn into one of those. Its fun to just walk around and eat awesome food. Kettle corn is always a fav as well as a mango lemonade. There’s always cool things that you shouldn’t buy because you don’t necessarily need it. It can get really crowded so if you’re claustrophobic you’re better off not going. I noticed the cool new kids play area they have now. Why didn’t they have it when I was young? it looks awesome!

Loved Northwest Folklife! I participated in the Sunday events this year. Street musicians everywhere, great food options, stages in each direction showcasing different bands and groups, etc. I particularly liked the interactive tent held by the Percussion society. It was just so cool to see such a diverse group of people jamming out on the likes of Cowbells and Djembes. The last thing we did, was go to two workshops– one for Accordion and the other for the Hammer Dulcimer. We learned so much from these musicians that are so experienced in their craft… super neat stuff. So many things to choose from at this Festival; I would have gone today (Memorial Day), but I have other plans to attend to. I’ll be back next year!

An inside look at Folklife. My wife, a Folklife volunteer since 1995, convinced me to give this annual music festival another chance (I hadn’t been since 2006). In preparation, I read the previous Unilocal reviews (several years old and luke warm at best) and pretty much agreed with them We spend most of yesterday at the Festival looking at everything: onstage music acts, street musicians, a tour at the volunteer HQ for registering street musicians (my wife did this) and the food and merchandise vendor booths. At the Volunteer HQ, I learned vendors had to pass a jury of volunteers and was surprised with some very interesting and artistic items, like hats and stuffed animals for example as well as interesting and reasonably priced food items. We shared the Bacon Seafood Gumbo and Smoked Turkey Tacos at Caveman Eats and enjoyed the spicy fare. We made several passes through the event area listening to the street musicians (a particular interest of mine) and the young drummer (with his father chaperoning) playing orange 5-​gal PVC buckets near the fountain knocked my socks off… amazing that he can get that sound! Unlike our experience in New Orleans a few weeks ago where all to often the street musicians turned out to be obnoxious panhanders, the street performers at Folklife are required to be registered (and looked over) at the Volunteer HQ and they were uniformly friendly and eager to entertain us. Seems like every year a surprising number of the top finalists on” Idol” or «The Voice» turn out to have gotten their start as street musicians, there is no better place to learn and access is available to anybody. On the Festival stage, I loved performances by Otieno Terry, Hip-​Hop artist, and Naomi Wamboe, Kenyan American performer… both brilliant artists who sang their hearts out for us. Folklife announced that this year’s event will likely draw about 200,000 people making it the largest free music festival in the US, although volunteers in a low key manner request donations and attendees seemed to be happy to give them. All performers and volunteers do it for free. Since I last went almost 10 years ago, this festival has totally changed as has the population of Seattle. Our previously aging, conservative and predominantly white population is now a vast mix of national origin, race, age and preference. What a wonderful change! Congratulations to the huge Folklife volunteer corps and hardworking professional staff for making this event as good or better than anything we’ve seen lately. I see a very promising future in store with all the young performers we saw. If you are being a family, the new kids play area is free and very popular.

This is a yearly festival during Memorial Day weekend at the Seattle Center. I would recommend going at least once. However, be prepared for a big crowd.
Admission is free with a suggested donation.
The street performers are varied from African tribal drums to Chinese dancers to American folk dancers.
Various vendors of hats, t-​shirts, jewelry and art that I like to look at and always end up buying at least one thing new.
The food is a bit pricey but it’s good, carnival food like elephant ears.
Parking is available in paid lots or on the street.

Awesome food and lots of things to do or see.

Great music, free admission, lots of food and vendors to peruse. I enjoy getting food and sitting on the grass, listening to music and relaxing… And buying things I don’t need.

For years, I would begin my festival season with a visit to Folklife. I typically attend on Friday because I try to avoid crowds (quite unsuccessfully, I may add) as much as possible. It’s crowded but less so compared to the rest of the weekend in my opinion. In more recent years, I’ve begun earlier with a visit to the U-​District Street Fair, which occurs a few weeks before Folklife.
Price — Free and donations are accepted.
Food — The food is not notable but that’s okay, I’m not going there for food but it would be nice.
Buskers — I love hearing and seeing new things. Folklife is a great way for me to gain exposure to a wide variety of entertainment.
Entertainment — They do a great job of putting out a schedule each year. This year, I even tried the mobile app! Whaaaaat? Mobile app? Fancy. Another great thing about the entertainment is that I often know some folks who are performing. I get super excited to see someone I know!
Overall, I attend Folklife for the feel. I’m a fairly serious person, particularly in my work life. One reason I attend is because it makes me feel a little lighter to see so many passionate people, happy to be there, doing their thing. It’s contagious in a lot of ways. Also, I spend a lot of time at Seattle Center and enjoy many things about the space.

Memorial day weekend yearly festival.
Food disappointing where are the food trucks!!! The food stand (think typical overpriced fair food) type food is never very good.
Free with a suggested donation of $ 10.
Great street musicians. Diverse schedule of everything a folklife ahem hippie festival should have that you can even pull up on you phone!
Interesting fact… it usually rains! So plan on it being wet for part of the festival. I lucked out and went the day before it rained!

This was a great event to go to. It definitely made me have a greater appreciation of folk music overall. The music and dance were great, but the food was pricey! Deep-​fried PB & J’s seemed to be a very BIG thing there. None for me thanks! I can see arteries clogging already! :) Glad that I got to go though. It was a bit crowded and a GREAT people watching venue. Loads of interesting folks there to entertain you for free.

I’m not sure what to think of the Seattle Folklife Festival anymore. It seems to have no direction… no heart… no soul.
What is it exactly? What are we celebrating?
There is music: sometimes strange music.
There is dancing: sometimes performed by people who are motivated by herbal supplements.
There is artwork, food, activities… people slinging their wares… people doing stuff for money… anything for money. The Folklife Festival is free, but they still want your money.
Weirdo people offering free hugs and kisses: avoid the strange old man perving on young girls.
All of the food is overpriced. Why? Probably because there is nothing else to eat and they are taking advantage of that monopoly.
You will see all types of people: from people who just climbed out of the garbage to bare-​chested 70 year old men.
I saw a girl who was walking around in a pink bra.
I was confronted by a few odd people who wanted to talk about my t-​shirt, which read «beer is food.»
One girl grabbed me and said that I reminded her of her ex-​boyfriend. And then she tried to grab my popcorn.
Another young kid mumbled something about beer actually being food in a video game that he plays.
In sum, this place is disgusting and wonderful, strange and delightful. It is the epitome of diversity.

I love attending this festival every year. Bohemia abounds at Seattle Center!
Shop til you drop with plenty of booths to choose from, custom-​made boots for $ 400 and up to braided neon for $ 2. Last year I purchased handfuls of home-​made bracelets, a leather cowboy hat for my cowboy and a Rasta maxi for my girl. This year I got a henna tattoo on my back for $ 15!
There’s also music; one-​man bands, Andean musicians, banjo hippies and stage players. Think street musicians, this is sort of their convention.
Food booths are everywhere too but I would rather wait for The Bite. Food here is just overpriced junk.
The best part of the Folklife Festival is the people watching. A bearded man in a bustier and skirt flitting scarves around wanders on the lawn. Painted angels wait for tips and mime for you. And stinky hippies and their adorable dogs lounge near the fountain.
This is all just a glimpse into our famous west coast life, come and see for yourself.

I have been to folklife for many years and I enjoy it each year.
They always have a larger selection of food, music, and other vendors than some other local street fairs. What I notice is that, year after year, the food prices have gone up! Several years ago, the average price for food was around $ 6 — 7. This year many food items cost from $ 8-​$ 10.
Lots of great music and local musicians. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out what kind of music you are listening to since there are so many performers and their music override one or another. It is often really difficult to push through the crowd and try to make your way around.

This is the 7^th or 8^th year that we’ve made our annual trip to Seattle to visit the Folklife Festival. The first time we ever visited Seattle, we were being tourists, walked into Seattle Center, said «wtf is going on here?» –and we’ve been hooked ever since.
Folklife is what you make of it. If you want to ignore the fact that, at any given time, there are between 12 – 24 things formally going on at various stages and inside various buildings, and a hundred more interesting informal things to take in, you can go ahead and ignore that. But, you’re a total douche.
Performances: get a program and plan your next couple of hours. A lot of the most interesting cultural experiences take place inside the buildings. It’s easy to fall into the trap of drfiting around outside all day, and you’ll see great things if you do, but you’ll miss out on other, more interesting things.
For what it’s worth, I’d say that most years I see one or two street performers that I enjoy more than just about any musicians I see on stage. There is interesting talent everywhere.
People-​watching: is spectacular. If you enjoy people-​watching, Folklife is worth it just for this. The closer you are to the fountain, the higher the density of loud and dirty teenagers. If you don’t like that.. .there is a lot of space in Seattle Center that isn’t that near the fountain.
Food: is pretty typical festival food. You pay festival prices and the food is hit and miss. The more you attend, you’ll notice that most booths repeat over the years, and you’ll wind up gravitating towards your favorites.
Bottom line: People of Seattle! Appreciate that you have Folklife in your backyard!

One of the more POPULAR and WELL KNOWN festivals to hit off the season in SEATTLE CENTER… but…
It’s hard for me to sum up the place really. I mean, I really commemorate this festival for it’s PURPOSE, which is to sustain folk arts; Inviting people of different cultures to share their communities music and dance.
HOWEVER! Folklife seems to be going on the DOWNHILL lately. With the HOARDS of crowds that you would generally only see displaying their puffing talents at hempfest, have now become a ritualistic part in folklife; And music is beginning to dull down, mainly consisting of the same BLUEGRASS FEEL on every corner. A couple years back, I only remember one or two blugrass performers playing, and this year and I counted at least eight or nine. Which is alot in my opinion, for an ‘eclectic’ festival to be displaying the same music.
I mean, some of the main stages I have to admit can be a bit exciting, especially ones that not only have music but dancers as well (irish cloggers, hula, drum and dance, etc.), but other than that, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to visit Folklife. Matter of fact, this year the only reason why I went was because I was already in the area and figured, «eh, why not. we’ll see what’s up.» But, even just dropping in I was still a little disappointed.
I would much more highly suggest BUMBERSHOOT & THE BITE instead. If anything, I was more interested in the juggling act I saw when I was there and eating a crêpe. Now if only I brought along a breathing mask or a constantly lit NAG CHAMPA incense stick to hold in front of my face at all times, then maybe things would have been more bearable.

This is probably one of the better Seattle festivals.
For starters, its on Memorial Day Weekend. I usually don’t travel on Memorial Day Weekend so I like having something in town to do. It’s the first of the bigger summer festivals so everything is still new.
It’s also a little more original and interesting than some of the other festivals.
Once I saw foam costume people (don’t know what they’re called ok?!) of the Bush Administration in prison-​style ball and chains… hehe.

This is one of the crappiest festivals at the Seattle Center. It’s a free festival (I guess all are free except for Bumbershoot), so expect huge crowds. Music is available on the large main stages, not to mention every 5 feet you step, which can be good or bad.
PRO – you can hear some new talent, stuff you’d never hear on your own. Their CDs are really cheap.
CON – sadly, everyone sounded the same. The theme this year must have been «copy Old Crow Medicine Show.» It’s also awkward if you happen to stop before a musician as their only audience to learn they are not so good, and how do you escape?
The crowds consisted of hoards of teenagers who looked very sticky, dressed in dark ill-​fitting clothes, hadn’t bathed in a week+ in preparation for the fest, and 1 in 5 held a «free hugs» sign drawn on dirty scraps of cardboard or torn boxes, which served as an excuse to grope each other inappropriately. Pass. Where are your parents?
The food is the same stuff, but I lost my appetite after seeing and smelling the crowd.
We had an hour to wander through here before a SIFF movie, and were done in 45mins. That’s with going through twice!