Northwest Folklife 2011, Part 1

This weekend I traveled to Seattle to give out university scholarships at a high school graduation. It was perfect timing, as Seattle was celebrating their annual Northwest Folklife event.

According to the event's website, "Northwest Folklife creates opportunities for individuals and communities of the Pacific Northwest to celebrate, share and sustain the vitality of folk, ethnic and traditional arts for present and future generations." It is indeed an event that draws thousands of people of all ages for good food, good folk music, good arts, and good street performances.

Here, for example, is how the group pictured above sounds:

Folklife takes place in the Seattle Center area, in the shadow of the Space Needle, the most recognizable landmark of the area. The Needle was, by the way, designed by an alumnus of our university's School of Engineering. Yep, we're mighty proud of him.

Another well-loved centerpiece of the area is the International Fountain, set in a big bowl in the hillside. It's so fun to watch the kids (and wannabe kids) running in and out of the water. All around the circumference of this huge square were craft booths, food booths and street performers.

It was crowded at the festival, as you can see, looking down just one of the pedestrian streets. There's a fun atmosphere in the air, with everyone enjoying the variety of delights to the senses.

This guy was amazing, painting the simple mehndi flawlessly, freehand, onto his young customer's hand.

The broom maker in his boiled felt hat was a jolly fellow. I wondered how well his brooms work, but wasn't inclined to purchase one to find out!

My sister-in-law, who came along with me, spotted this rather attractive hat. We took a photo to share with my nephew, who is given to wearing cool and unusual garb when he performs with his band. He declared it "steampunk," which I'd never heard of before, and said he'd never wear anything like that. They're trying hard to be different, he said.

Me? I still thought it an attractive hat.

There were plenty of leather workers at the fair selling all kinds of creative hats and sandals and boots. The strappy leather sandals (like "Jesus sandals") caught my eye, but they were far too expensive for my pocketbook. Not complaining, you understand. I would probably charge similar prices if I had made such fine sandals.

A face painter was hard at work in about every block, as evidenced by all the decorated faces we saw around us. Watching this painter work, I was struck by how adroitly she mixed the colors right on her palette so that when she put the brush strokes on her pretty client's face, they came out with the stripes and shading already in them!

There was a Bulgarian beer drinkers' group there, enjoying the oom-pah of a little brass group. I thought they looked festive as well as classic.

Less classic was this young fair-goer who crossed our path several times in her dolly outfit with the pink platform boots and striking strawberry patch hair. I thought she looked like a lot of fun.

In fact there were a lot of people there who looked like a lot of fun, with piercings, tattoos, dreadlocks, and all manner of unusual garb. I wanted to get acquainted with them; our little town offers no such thing as this diversity, and I feel a bit impoverished, considering that.

This guy had to be a lot of fun for the kids.  I was particularly enchanted by his palm tree.  I wonder what a guy like this does for his day job?  It wouldn't surprise me a bit if it turned out he's an engineer for Boeing.

(to be continued)