Destinations: Family-Friendly Fun at Northwest Folklife Festival

Discovery Zone for kids
at Northwest Folklife

Northwest Folklife Announces Programs for Family-Friendly Hot Spot, The Discovery Zone

Packed With Hands-On Activities, Performance, and Workshops for Young People, Ages 4-12

Northwest Folklife Festival is excited to announce the return of the Discovery Zone, the family-friendly hot spot packed with hands-on activities, workshops and multi-cultural performances for young people ages 4-12. While much of the Northwest Folklife Festival is appropriate for family audiences, the Discovery Zone is especially curated with young people in mind, and is located in its own special area in the Next 50 Plaza specifically for families.

The Discovery Zone will be programmed from 11:00 am-6:00 pm, Sunday, May 24 - Monday, May 25.

There are several brand new additions in the Discovery Zone this year, including an all-ages Drawing Jam produced by the Gage Academy of Art. People of all ages and skill-levels will be invited to draw from observation with charcoal, pastels, pencils and markers - art supplies and still-life set ups provided. Northwest Folklife is also thrilled to host the debut of Seattle Center's brand new imaginative, artist-created outdoor play area called Artists at Play.

This area takes child-friendly amusement to new heights - kids can explore the 35-foot Climbing Tower, walk the colorful Labyrinth and take a spin on the ADA-accessible Integrated Carousel. Visitors will find child-inspired musical instruments, listening stations and "story waves." This is a permanent fixture on Seattle Center grounds that debuted on the first day of the Festival.

Family-friendly activities and excitement continues throughout the Festival grounds, most specifically on Monday, May 25 for the Kindiependent showcase on the Fountain Lawn Stage featuring top Seattle kindie bands like The Not-Its!, Recess Monkey, Harmonica Pocket, and others. Families can find multi-cultural dance performance in the Exhibition Hall throughout the Festival, the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate finalist readings in the Cornish Playhouse, interactive dance workshops in the Armory Lofts, and of course a plethora of live music and parades.

For a full list of family-friendly programming in the Discovery Zone see the website 

Here are a few of the hands-on activities, workshops and performances to look forward to:

ACTIVITIES - All below activity booths will be available all four days of the Festival

Little Wing and Rookies presented by School of Rock

"Instrument Play and Presentations"

Come strum an electric guitar or play a snare drum! Little Wing is an innovative early childhood music-education program. At the Festival, kids will have chance to play different drums, pick up a guitar and strum it or sing into a microphone.

Seattle Children's Museum

"Exploring Rhythm"

Explore rhythm with Seattle Children's Museum. Test out instruments from around the world and make a dancing ring to dance to the music you hear at Folklife.

Center for Wooden Boats

"Toy Boat Building"

Use hand drills, hammers, and art supplies to build wooden toy boats! The aim is to provide a fun, hands-on activity and an opportunity for children to be creative and gain familiarity with traditional hand tools.

Active Arts and Sciences

"Make Your Own Mosaic Tile"

Work with recycled art glass to make mosaic tiles. With a little bit of guidance, kids will learn technique, a bit about color balance, get creative and have a lot of fun.

The Creative Advantage

Stop by and learn the importance of art in education.

WORKSHOPS - this is only a selection of workshops happening in the Discovery Zone

Hip-Hop Break Dance

Sunday, May 24, 5:00 p.m.

Learn how to breakdance with the Multi-Generational Hip-Hop dance crew, North City Rockers and

Kids Brazilian Dance Workshop with Dora Oliveira!

Monday, May 25, 1:00 p.m.

PERFORMANCES - this is only a selection of performances happening in the Discovery Zone

Hot Cider String Band

Sunday, May 24, 2:00 p.m.

With roots in Northwest fiddling but branches into Scandinavian, Celtic, and French Canadian fiddle styles, as well as bluegrass, folk and most recently Brazilian choro, the mostly family but all friends Hot Cider brings a pleasing array of harmony-rich tunes to the Discovery Zone.

Mikey Gervais

Monday, May 25, 2:45 p.m.

Mikey's songs will have kids and parents alike dancing, jumping, wiggling and partying all while learning about the amazing science of our beautiful planet.  He has been a nature educator for over 12 years and loves volcanoes, trees, animals and plants.

Other family-friendly programming at the 44th annual Northwest Folklife Festival includes:

"Kindiependent Show!"

Monday, May 25, 11 a.m.-2:00 p.m., Fountain Lawn Stage

Featuring: Johnny Bregar, Brian Vogan and his Good Buddies, The Not-Its!, Recess Monkey, and Harmonic Pocket

The Discovery Zone programming is sponsored by ParentMap.

About Northwest Folklife Festival

The annual Northwest Folklife Festival is the largest community-powered arts and culture festival in the United States. Drawing nearly 250,000 people over just four days, Northwest Folklife has programmed over 5,000 performers from more than 65 different genres of music, from Hawaiian to Hip-Hop and dance performances representing cultures from Ireland to India.