2014 Northwest Folklife Festival

Wow this is way bigger than all the other festivals, and this pic is less than a third of what we saw. 

We walked down by the EMP to see the end of a Duwamish  Ceremony and then another Local Native Tribe:

Takes a big tree to dig this out.they are sturdy craft for all the waters in the PNW

A drum Circle begins to play and chant.

I would not like to be on the wrong side of any US Marine but I think you would fear the one carrying the Marine Corp Flag the most.  

Handed down for generations to come.

You can see it all in this clip: http://youtu.be/a7JN8SZy284

Folk music and Folk Dancing was happening through out the entire Seattle Center

The NW Folklife happens on Memorial Day weekend so there were a lot of  Memorial Day events as well

Had to stop and listen, they were great!

Huge Square Dancing going on here

Folk Bands everywhere

The fountain is always a center piece 

Some missed this sign

A little Indy to Boot

She was downright Fiddler!

Story Telling folk Music with Illustration

Seen a lot of these in different garb but this guy was the best yet.

Impossible to hear it all

These two drew a huge crowd

A little Swamp music to Beat Then we wondered over to the Drum Circle , see link below

2014 Northwest Folklife Festival
http://www.nwfolklife.org/festival/

Little did we know that the Northwest Folklife Festival is the second Largest one held at Seattle Center each year behind the Bumbershoot (which is not free). Since Seattle Center is just a few blocks away we try to make as many of these free festivals as possible.
You can see a complete list here: http://seattlecenter.com/festal/  Other Metropolitan Areas should get on this wagon and provide these great educational. fun, family oriented cultural events, of course it helps to have a huge international community like Seattle:
" Northwest Folklife is an independent year-round nonprofit organization dedicated to creating opportunities for all people to appreciate, share, and participate in the evolving folk and ethnic traditions of the Pacific Northwest. Every year since 1972 we have presented the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle Center on Memorial Day Weekend. The Pacific Northwest is home to an extraordinary group of communities—ethnic, familial, occupational, religious, and regional—and we believe it is important to celebrate and help sustain the traditions of all of those groups. Doing so revitalizes people and communities and helps preserve cultural heritage for years to come. We believe that when people share their way of life, opportunities are created to dissolve misunderstandings, break down stereotypes and increase respect for one another."

We just enjoyed walking around trying to sample everything, I am sure it is better if you knew about all this in advance and you could plan your day out around the weekend schedule but we just had the afternoon so our goal was to see as much of it while we had the chance. Folklife includes all ages and so there is plenty for everyone there. It is all about accepting cultural differences so the atmosphere is celebratory and very happy. You can even bring your own drum and join in:  http://youtu.be/Q2LRzXRaqqM