Northwest Folklife News - September 2, 2008

It's YOUR Folklife!

Help Folklife thrive for another 37 years!

You've told us that Folklife means a lot to you: the chance to share your traditions and connect with other communities. It means coming together to celebrate our differences and our commonalities. It means experiencing truly independent music, dance and culture, rooted in tradition.

How do we preserve and sustain this amazing cultural experience for future generations? The task of continuing to pay for the four-day Festival as well as the year-round work of Northwest Folklife is daunting, particularly in today's economy. During times like these, arts organizations like Northwest Folklife are essential to vibrant and healthy communities.

This is where you come in. The Festival is the largest community arts festival in the nation - "community" means that it's YOUR festival, YOUR traditions, YOUR Folklife! We need your help to continue providing this unique event and our other year-round programming.

In order to preserve opportunities to showcase your community's arts and traditions, we have a goal of raising $15,000 online by September 30th. Your gift of $10 (or more) will make a difference.

The more you spread the word, the more you'll make a difference. Forward this email to anyone you think may be interested in supporting Northwest Folklife, or you can copy a widget to your MySpace, Facebook, website or blog. Let your friends and family know that they can help out - every donation makes a difference and helps us reach our goal.

With the generosity of people like you, we will continue to bring communities together through art, music, dance and craft. We know how much you appreciate Northwest Folklife - your contributions have meant the world to us. We value you and your continued support!

Donate and spread the word now!

Audio Picks of the Month

We've got so much audio, it's coming out of our ears! Or rather, it's going in our ears...well, you get the picture. So we thought we'd take advantage of all of the lovely music sitting around and take a moment every month to share with you some of our favorites.

This month, Devon Léger (Programming Coordinator and a mean fiddler himself) dishes up his picks:

Organized by popular local folk singers, the Utah Philips Celebration highlighted the legendary singer and storyteller's life and work and through the music of local luminaries like Jim Page, the Allen-Zito Family and Utah's own son Brendan Philips as Fast Rattler.

Olympia indie-folk group Polka Dot Dot Dot blew us away with their intense vision of folk music in the 21st century. They'll probably make it big in the next few years and headline Bumbershoot, so this is your chance to say you knew them when they were starting out! Check out their Folklife performance on YouTube.

The Awesome Celtic Show sure lived up to its name this year! Portland accordion master Johnny Connolly was one of the highlights, along with Scottish fiddle/piano duo The McKassons, Irish sean-nos dance expert Maldon Meehan and the young uilleann pipes virtuoso Eliot Grasso.

Not only were A Moment in Time the best dressed artists at the Festival, they also sounded amazing at The Many Shades of Gospel Music showcase! Incredible a cappella gospel singing to delight your ears...

Help us Celebrate Folklife!

We're already planning for our annual celebration and auction on November 8th. Want to be involved?

- serve as a table captain
- donate items or experiences for the auction
- volunteer

If you'd like to participate or for more information, please email mollyh@nwfolklife.org.

Upcoming Events

Korean Cultural Celebration

Date and Time: Saturday, September 6, 12noon-9pm

Location: Seattle Center

Celebrate Korea's traditional Harvest Festival Day, Ch'usok

Go here for more info or visit the Festál website to learn more about other September festivals, including Fiestas Patrias and Festa Italiana.

Guelaguetza

Date and Time: Sunday, September 7, 11am-3pm

Location: Blanche Lavizzo Park (22nd and Washington), Seattle

An annual celebration of indigenous Oaxacan dance, music, culture and food, presented by the Comite Cultural Oaxaueño.

Kevin Burke & Cal Scott in Concert

Date and Time: Friday, September 19th at 7:30pm

Location: Dusty Strings (34th & Fremont), Seattle

Traditional & contemporary music from one of the most recognizable talents in Irish music today.

To find out more about this concert and upcoming workshops with Kevin Burke, Cal Scott and Lisa Ornstein, visit Dusty Strings' website.