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Folklife (5/25–5/28)
Launched: 1972
Focus: folk, world music, DIY
Typical festival experience: Drum circles, impromptu mandolin jams, shrieking kids running through the International Fountain
Who goes: The Woodstock generation and their grandkids, aficionados of the hammered dulcimer, people who really don’t see why everyone thinks Portlandia is so funny
Big names: Naomi Wachira, Kung Foo Grip, Whitney Monge, Tomo Nakayama, Clinton Fearon, Baby Gramps
Likely political ambassador: Kshama Sawant.
Times vary. Free (suggested daily donation $10/person). Seattle Center, nwfolklife.org
The full 2018 Northwest Folklife Festival schedule is here. Get ready to celebrate the music, arts, food & crafts representing over 100 cultural communities in the Pacific Northwest. This is Folklife! https://t.co/3KYuQpodgH pic.twitter.com/d1weP1Mvah
— Northwest Folklife (@NWFolklife) May 1, 2018
Sasquatch! (5/25–5/27)
Launched 2002
Focus: Alt-rock
Typical festival experience: Tent camping, extortionately priced bottled water, getting the side-eye from Ellensburgers on the drive home
Who goes: Upwardly mobile, midriff-baring millennials
Big name: David Byrne
Likely political ambassador: Bernie Sanders.
Times and prices vary. The Gorge Amphitheatre, George, 754 Silica Road NW; sasquatchfestival.com
Upstream (6/1–6/3)
Launched 2017
Focus: Local music, with a few big name headliners
Typical festival experience: Taking light rail home afterward and running into someone you know
Who goes: Aspiring local artists, bands and supporters of Seattle’s dynamic music scene
Big name: Valerie June
Likely political ambassador: Krist Novoselic. (His new band, Giants in the Trees, plays the fest, too.)
Times and prices vary. Pioneer Square, Occidental Square, Occidental Avenue S and S Main Street, upstreammusicfest.com
