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FESTÁL TURNS 20
For 46 years, the Northwest Folklife Festival has brought
diverse communities of the Pacific Northwest
together on the grounds of Seattle Center, the
city’s central gathering space. Folklife shares
these grounds year-round with Festál, Seattle
Center’s presenting organization that
works with 23 community organizations
to bring festivals like Diwali, Tet Festival,
CroatiaFest, Spirit of Indigenous People
and more to Seattle Center.
As Festál Turns 20 in 2017, Folklife
celebrates the ground-breaking,
community-organizing work for which the
group is known.
The Origins of Festál
Founded in 1997, Festál began with 11
different festivals, all brought together under
the simple, but progressive, idea that the
center of Seattle should play host to some
of the many communities that call this
city home. As articulated by Virginia
Anderson, the Seattle Center Director
at the time, “The goal of Festál
was to bring regional cultural
festivals out of their respective
communities and into a centrally
located venue where a much
larger audience could see and
experience each community’s
cultural traditions.”
It was a way to celebrate who
we are as Seattleites, and
also a way to learn about our
neighbors and to learn from
our neighbors. Some of the
original 11 festivals included
Festival Sundiata, Irish Festival,
Tibet Fest, Seattle Cherry
Blossom and Japanese Cultural
Festival, Festival Italiana and the
Northwest Folklife Festival. Over
the years, more festivals were added,
including Live Aloha (2009), Iranian
Festival (2006), Indigenous People (2011),
French Fest (2004) and, the newest member of Festál, Diwali: Lights of India, which
joined in 2016.
Why Festál is Important
At the time of Festál’s creation, arts and cultural organizations were expressing and
supporting the idea of diversity, of showcasing the many different communities
that make up our Pacific Northwest heritage. For many arts programmers, this
meant bringing different cultural groups into a larger arts program that they
curated in order to show the patchwork of cultures that
make up a region.
Festál, however, worked with a more
progressive idea: the concept
of cultural equity. Whereas
programming based on diversity
can lead to tokenization, the idea
of cultural equity requires the
participation and guidance
of the community itself. At
Festál, the communities
involved direct their own
festivals, taking advantage
of the larger resources of
Seattle Center, but putting
each event together of and
for their own community.
It was a ground-breaking
program at the time — and
it still is today — and it
created a family of festivals
and events with deep meaning
to many communities in the
Pacific Northwest.
In addition, the fact that each Festál
festival, including the Northwest
Folklife Festival, has no admission charge
and is open to the public means that there
are no barriers to access.
How Festál Works
Every month, member organizations of Festál meet at Seattle Center
to debrief about their festivals, to learn from their experiences
producing each event, and to discuss and brainstorm how to create
the best possible cultural events in the heart of the city. These lively
meetings are attended by a powerfully diverse group of representatives
from each festival, each of whom is a respected leader in their own
community and other communities.
Your $10 suggested daily donation helps cover daily production costs. Thank You!
CULTURAL FOCUS
SEATTLE CENTER FESTÁL TIMELINE
1972:
First official St.
Patrick’s Day Parade is
organized in Seattle,
planting the seed for a
communitywide Irish
festival.
1976:
A gift from Japan
to Seattle of 1,000 cherry
trees initiates the first
Seattle Cherry Blossom
Festival.
1981:
Terry Morgan
of Modern Enterprises
partners with Seattle
Center to create Festival
Sundiata to gather
African-Americans in
the Pacific Northwest for
a celebration of African
heritage.
1988:
The Filipino
Cultural Heritage Society
of Washington presents
its first festival at Seattle
Center to showcase
Filipino culture and
celebrate Philippine
independence.
1989:
Hmong Association
of Washington holds its
first Hmong New Year
Celebration at Seattle
Center to preserve and
share the Hmong culture.
1990:
Seattle Cherry
Blossom Festival
organizers coalesce with
Irish Week, Festa Italiana,
Sundiata, Pagdiriwang,
Fiestas Patrias and
Chinese Culture and Arts
to create the Cultural
Festival Coalition, the
predecessor of Seattle
Center Festál.
1993:
The first Arab
Festival is held at a
private residence in
Seattle.
Italian Festival organizers
agree to continue annual
festivals.
1995:
Renovation of
the Seattle Center
Armory(Center House)
offers an opportunity
to create an umbrella
organization for the
cultural festivals that use
Seattle Center spaces.
1996:
A coalition of city,
community and federal
leaders discuss a new
vision for ethnic cultural
festivals at Seattle Center.
They develop processes
and parameters for the
Festál program, which
still apply today.
1997:
Festál launches at
Seattle Center, enabling
community organizers
to share resources, plan
and engage audiences in a
common public space.
The original Festál groups
include:
Martin Luther
King, J. Day, Festival
Sundiata, Irish Week
Festival, Seattle Cherry
Blossom & Japanese
Cultural Festival,
Northwest Folklife
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“The goal of
Festál was to bring
regional cultural festivals
out of their respective
communities and into a
centrally located venue where
a much larger audience could
see and experience each
community’s cultural
traditions.”