Since 1972, the annual Northwest Folklife Festival has been a community-powered celebration of the music, arts, and heritage that make up the brilliant cultural tapestry of Cascadia. With over 5,000 performers on 20+ stages, 200 vendors, 500 volunteers, and upwards of 250,000 attendees, this remains one of the largest access-for-all community-powered festivals in the region. The festival is more than a celebration of the diversity of Cascadia, it’s a chance to engage directly with the many communities that make up our bioregion.

2020 Cultural Focus: Living Legacies As Northwest Folklife looks ahead to celebrate its 50th Anniversary in 2021, it is the stories and traditions of the region that serve as the foundation and significance behind the organization and work. Join in preserving, supporting and cultivating our community’s cultural endowment through Cultural Focus: Living Legacies. We will be creating a Living Legacies Toolkit to document and capture family heritage and stories in tandem with our organization as we build a retrospective for our 50th anniversary and legacy for generations to come.

2020 Cultural Focus: Living Legacies will have four components: (1) Development of a Living Legacies Toolkit to share with communities to preserve, document and capture their stories; (2) Fieldwork and Documentation; (3) Archiving and Digitization, and; (4) Production of Podcasts, Digital and Anthological Booklet.

The official 2020 poster, featuring artwork by renowned artist Preston Singletary Glass designed by Mike Strassburger.