Northwest Folklife Festival returns in-person, other fun Memorial Day Weekend events
May 27, 2022, 6:56 PM | Updated: May 30, 2022, 10:42 am
“Metamorphosis: In with the old, in with the new” is the slogan for the 51st Annual Northwest Folklife Festival this year.
The festival is once again offering an in-person experience after switching to virtual events the last two years during the pandemic.
Leave early, or leave late: A Western WA Memorial Day weekend travel guide
While you can visit the festival in person this year starting Friday, it is now a hybrid event. There are also daily streaming virtual performances beginning at 1 p.m. This is the festival’s first year of offering both in-person and virtual events.
Featuring the music, arts, and heritage of the Pacific Northwest, the festival celebrates diversity and has more than 6,000 performers on at least 20 stages and 200 food, craft, and imports vendors. The festival uses 500 volunteers and attracts more than 250,000 attendees.
Entertainment includes buskers, street performers, music, dance, workshops, visual art, film, storytelling, and cultural showcase events.
The festival is held at Seattle Center and runs Friday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Monday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Entry to the festival is free, but donations of $20 per person are suggested to meet operating expenses, produce the festival and maintain year-round programs provided by the Northwest Folklife nonprofit organization.
In addition to the in-person return of the Northwest Folklife Festival, the Juan de Fuca Festival is back this weekend. Spread out between the towns of Port Angeles and Sequim, on the northern edge of the peninsula, the festival features bands, food, and crafts. Musical headliners include Lady A, Hiroya Tsukamoto, and the Country Lips.
The Brinnon ShrimpFest captures the delicate annual window when shrimp is in season. And this year, Memorial Day weekend falls within it.
The Whatcom County Memorial Day Parade is making a return after two years of COVID cancellations, occurring in downtown Bellingham on Saturday, with floats, clowns, horses, and marching bands. It’s the 100th anniversary of the first Whatcom County Memorial Day Parade.
Mill Creek also has its own parade for Memorial Day Weekend. The program kicks off with a ceremony at the Veterans Monument in Mill Creek’s Liberty Park, which will set the parade in motion as it marches through Mill Creek Town Center. The show will feature Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Civil Air Patrol, military vehicles, and a flyover by military jets.
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