Seattle Center Festál Continues with 11 Cultural Festivals Coming This Summer and Fall

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Seattle Center Festál is Where the World Gathers to celebrate the people, the places, the stories, and the traditions of the city’s communities.

SEATTLE –  With 13 out of the 24 festivals passing in the series, Seattle Center Festál continues with 11 more remaining between August and November. This year, all the festivals in the series, produced in partnership with regional community organizations, have returned in person and/or hybrid offering free experiences that each have their own cultural focus, identity, and range of engaging activities.

Since 1997, this unique and enduring festival series has formed the foundation of public programming at Seattle Center. “Where the World Gathers” is this year’s theme, honoring the past while keeping eyes on the future. Festivals look to new generations and innovative approaches for programming to showcase the diversity of people and cultures that contribute to our region’s character, economy, and way of life.  

Through Festál, the broader community can engage with its neighbors’ histories, arts, rituals, and traditions. Festival programming often includes both traditional and contemporary music and dance, visual arts and crafts, family activities, vendor marketplaces, food demonstrations, and learning experiences for the entire family.  

“Seattle Center Festál festivals have brought Seattle communities back together in person to celebrate our city’s diversity,” said Mayor Bruce Harrell. “In the spirit of One Seattle, I look forward to a great slate of events this summer and fall to continue honoring the cultures and communities that make Seattle special.” 

Throughout the year, some festivals serve as markers of time passing, celebrating the change of seasons, harvest time, or the new year. Other festivals draw attention to political emancipation, departed loved ones, ancient civilizations, and contemporary influences.  

“At Seattle Center, we aim to bring people together from across various communities to celebrate and uplift our diversity,” said Seattle Center Interim Director, Marshall Foster. “Seattle Center Festál is an opportunity for everyone to honor unique cultural heritages and traditions through delicious food, arts, and music and we are proud to present these cultural festivals in partnership with the community organizations that bring them to life.”

Visitors can look forward to 11 more Festál festivals this year, each with their own unique communities, programs, and festivities in person on Seattle Center’s campus. 

Seattle Center Festál Schedule for August-November 2023 

About Seattle Center Festál

Seattle Center Festál cultivates a deeper understanding of the cultures and ethnic diversity that contribute to the rich vibrancy of the Pacific Northwest. This unique series links together 24 free festivals presented on weekends from January to November, each with its own cultural focus, identity, and range of engaging activities. Seattle Center Festál is Where the World Gathers to celebrate the people, the places, the stories, and the traditions of the city’s communities. Seattle Center Festál is produced in partnership with 24 different community groups and supported by City of Seattle, Seattle Center Foundation, 4Culture, and KUOW. Festál is also part of the ArtsFund Cultural Partners Network.

About Seattle Center

Connect to the extraordinary at Seattle Center, an active civic, arts, and family gathering place in the core of our city and region. Seattle Center’s 74-acre campus, centered around the International Fountain, is part of the Uptown Arts & Cultural District and home to Climate Pledge Arena; more than 30 cultural, educational, sports, and entertainment organizations; and a broad range of public and community programs. In everything it does, Seattle Center’s mission is to create exceptional events, experiences, and environments which delight and inspire the human spirit to build stronger communities.

In 2023 Seattle Center is expanding its role to provide maintenance and public safety services for Seattle’s new Waterfront Park, a series of new public spaces on Seattle’s downtown waterfront between Pioneer Square and the Seattle Aquarium. Seattle Center will support managing these new waterfront public spaces in partnership with the non-profit Friends of Waterfront Seattle, which offers the community a range of recreational and cultural programming. 

Thanks to the support of Official Seattle Center Partners – Alaska Airlines, The Climate Pledge, Coors Light, Pepsi, Premera Blue Cross, Symetra, T-Mobile, and WaFd Bank – Seattle Center is the #1 arts and entertainment destination in the Pacific Northwest with 12 million annual visitors, generating $1.864 billion in business activity and more than $631 million in labor income annually.  www.seattlecenter.com