2016 SPONSORSHIP WRAP

In May, 2016, Northwest Folklife, in partnership

with Seattle Center, presented the 45th

annual

Northwest Folklife Festival, an iconic celebration of

arts, traditional cultures and the diverse

communities present in the Pacific Northwest. The

traditional event enriched the region’s cultural

landscape with a mix of dance, crafts, food and –

notably this year – the celebration of the Power of

the Human Voice through Song, a Cultural Focus

which highlighted the importance of songs and

singing that are pervasive in almost every

community.

This year’s event reminded us that, for all its size

and scope, the Northwest Folklife Festival remains

memorable due to the individual participation of

so many. More than 225,000 attendees watched

more than 835 scheduled performances, danced to

live music, learned new skills in a workshop or

simply experienced something new to them.

Supported for the first time by a presenting

sponsor, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the

Northwest Folklife Festival was sustained by other

generous sponsors, funders and donors who

provided no-cost access to attendees and

performance and demonstration opportunities to

the more than 5,000 performers who shared their

time and talents in showcasing their cultures and

traditions for all to enjoy.

The combined efforts of our board, staff,

volunteers, donors, sponsors, vendors and funders

provided attendees and participants with

unparalleled access to arts & cultural participation.

We are grateful to be the catalyst for these

avenues of self-expression that would otherwise be

dimmed, and for the chance to enlighten and

inform people about cultures new to them.

Together, we were able to enrich our region in

countless ways through the communal experience

of sharing arts and cultures together on common

ground and with no financial barriers.

Here is a look at the Festival that unfolded from

May 27 – 30, 2016 at Seattle Center.

2016 Cultural Focus:

The Power of the Human Voice through Song

The human voice was the first instrument. Singing is one of the most natural

means of human communication and expression. Songs play an essential part

of the social fabric of cultures – every ritual a community shares calls for its

own song: birth, marriage, death, the planting and harvest, the coming of

spring and fertility, the changing of the seasons. Songs are used for protest,

for love and honor. They are used as expressions of unity through national

anthems and sports teams. Songs are used to sing babies to sleep and to

accompany a child’s play. Singing is thus an ideal tool to express the common

themes of humanity and culture.

For the 2016 Cultural Focus, Northwest

Folklife explored the power of the human

voice and its role among communities,

specifically looking at:

Human Voices in Harmony

Such as Choirs, Doo-Wop, Barbershop, and

Glee

Together We Sing

Including Call and Response, Work Songs, Sea

Shanties, and Protest Songs

Songs of Our Children

Such as Lullabies, Nursery Rhymes, and Play

Songs

Spirituals and Sacred Mu8sic

including Gospel, Kirtan, Shape Note, and

Chanting

Beyond the Voice

Such as Throat Singing, Yodeling, Mouth

Music, and Beatboxing

Festival Programming in Numbers:

835 Scheduled

Performances

152 Showcases

5,845 Total

Performers 77 Hours of

Participatory Dance 20 Hours of

Scheduled Jamming

Media Coverage

Print/Digital:

Alaska Air Magazine

BroadwayWorld.com

Examiner.com

HeraldNet.com

Pete’s Digital Newsletter

Post Modern Dad

Red Tricycle Seattle

Seattle Center

Seattleite

SeattleMag.com

SeattleRefined.com

Seattle Spectator (Seattle Univ.)

SecondInversion.org

The Creative Advantage

The News Tribune

The Olympian

QueenAnneView.com

425 Magazine

The Seattle Times

ParentMap

SeattleMet.com

The Stranger

Seattle Weekly

Seattlepi.com

CityArtsOnline.com

Visit Seattle

Broadcast:

King 5 News

KOMO 4 New

Q13 Fox

KUOW NPR

“Folklife represents something about

Seattle that is conspicuously absent from

the shiny steel and concrete taking over

in South Lake Union and elsewhere. A

diverse festival that attracted more than

235,000 “folks” last year, Folklife has a

vibe that doesn’t seem to shrink in the

rainy, cloudy days that inevitably

accompany a Northwest Memorial Day

weekend. If anything, the festival’s

collective joy seems to find the weather

invigorating.” –Seattle Pi

“The Northwest Folklife Festival is one

of Seattle's most amazing (and

affordable) family events. Featuring

thousands of performers from cultural

communities around the Northwest, as

well as buskers, dance performances,

workshops and more, it's an opportunity

to introduce your children to the world

in the most accessible way possible:

through music, art and dance”

-Parent Map

“At the Folklife Festival, people embrace their own cultures and share

others — an approach we should take all year. The festival is a

celebration of the many cultural roots that nurture our community, and it’s

organized in a way that encourages everyone to get at least a little taste of

something outside their usual world… Seattle is changing by the minute,

but Folklife remains a moment of something essential and hopeful.”

-Jerry Large, The Seattle Times

2016 Media Partners:

The Seattle Times

Seattle Weekly

ParentMap

City Arts

Comcast Xfinity

91.3 KBCS

KEXP

Epoch Times

Northwest Asian Weekly

Seattle Pipeline

KCTS9

KUOW

Seattle Channel

The Seattle Globalist

King FM

KSER 90.7

356,521 page views

for nwfolklife.org during

May 2016

105,402 users

visiting nwfolklife.org

in May 2016

1,964 new “likes” to

NW Folklife Facebook

page in May

27,158 total

“likes” on Facebook

115,854 total

impressions of

Facebook posts,

May 2016

Thank You to our

Sponsors:

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Fremont Brewing

Western Washington Toyota Dealers Bath Fitter

American Music Blue Moon

Caffe Ladro Deschutes Brewery

HomeGrown Trailers Crispin Cider

The Mediterranean Inn Bridgeport Brewery

Belltown Inn Geico

MarQueen Hotel Renewal by Andersen

Inn at Queen Anne Lyft

Ben & Jerry’s Trumer Pils

The Frankfurter Champion Windows

Hostelling International AANR Northwest

Helios Heaters Bonterra Wines

We Couldn’t Do It Without You…

2016 Folklife Donors and Volunteers

As a community powered

event, the Folklife Festival

relies on the generosity of

donors and volunteers. In

2016 we filled over 1,000

volunteer shifts for a total of

3,362 volunteer hours

completed by approximately

500 volunteers.

2016 In-Kind Sponsors: Beanfields

Central Co-op

Choice Organic Tea

Dang Foods

Einstein Brothers Bagels

Field Roast

HalfPops

Greek Gods Yogurt

KIND Snacks

Medosweet Farms

Mighty-O Donuts

Mt. Townsend Creamery

Nature’s Bakery

Orchard Bar

Partner's Crackers

Pepsi

QFC

Seattle Fudge

The Bread Garden

Turtle Island Foods

Veggie Grill

Windward Communications

World Spice Merchants