Northwest Folklife turns 51: A look back on Seattle's iconic festival

Traditionally considered the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day weekend in Seattle is usually marked by one event in particular: Northwest Folklife.

A celebration of music, arts and culture, the festival held on the sprawling grounds of the Seattle Center under the Space Needle draws crowds of thousands for a weekend of dancing, eating and celebrating heritage.

Despite many challenges, including a debt crises that almost put an end to the long-running festival, Folklife has remained a bastion of free and non-commercialized music performances in Seattle, often reaching minority and immigrant communities.

From its bluegrass roots in the '70s to larger gatherings that redefined "folk" in 2000s, here's a look back on Northwest Folklife through the years in honor of its 50th celebration this weekend.

Folklife in the '70s:

Northwest Folklife got its start in the Emerald City in 1971 by the Seattle Folklore Society in partnership with the National Park Service and the National Folk Festival Association. It came on the heels of a many other successful outdoor music festivals across the United States, including Woodstock in 1969.

Despite being a new festival, it managed to attract approximately 123,000 people to the Seattle Center over the course of the weekend, and the following year saw 225,000 attendees according to History Link.

Folklife in the '80s:

Under the guidance of longtime festival director Scott Nagel in the 1980s, the festival was able to expand its artistic offerings. Once electric instruments were allowed at the festival in the middle of the decade, organizers had to begin turning away performers who wanted to participate, according to History Link.

Moving beyond bluegrass, a "World Music" genre also added to the festival's cultural reach as it began embracing ethnic identities and art from around the globe.

Folklife in the '90s:

Both Folklife, and Seattle, hit its stride in the 1990s, attracting bigger names and larger crowds alike. Folk singer-songwriter Pete Seeger even headlined the festival in 1997.

Like many other outdoor events in the Emerald City, the festival was subject to Mother Nature's rule power and was rained out in 1998.

Folklife in the 2000s:

In the 2000s, the festival moved beyond its focus of North American and European cultures to include the music and art of the city's growing Asian immigrant populations. Its 30th anniversary in 2001 was commemorated by performances highlighting the Pacific Northwest's Korean American communities, and the festival went on to showcase the diversity of Arabic cultures later in the decade.

However, the festival continued to mount debt in the early 2000s, and was also riddled by a shooting at celebrations in 2008 which led to a controversial ban on guns in public parks in the city under then-mayor Greg Nickels.

Folklife from 2010 and beyond:

Continuing to grow in size as Seattle's population grew with a tech boom, the festival nearly went under in 2017. However, the fundraising goal was met by the over 250,000 attendees, allowing the festival to continue on into its next decade.