We love supporting and uplifting the work happening across our communities. This isn’t our festival, but we’re boosting and echoing this ask in support of Northwest Folklife and the people helping make this year’s festival possible. This year’s cultural focus is Ubuntu, “I am because we are,” centering interdependence, shared humanity, and collective care. Ubuntu reflects how this work functions in practice: through people showing up for one another and sustaining the conditions that allow cultural life to thrive.

Right now, Northwest Folklife’s volunteer base continues to thin, which makes showing up matter even more. Community cultural spaces are under real pressure, from rising costs to shrinking volunteer pools, and that strain affects the infrastructure that supports people powered culture. Volunteering is a tangible way to support communities during moments of change, whether that’s holding space, supporting organizers, sharing resources, or helping maintain care and continuity.

Organizations like Northwest Folklife are part of a broader ecosystem of community led work, and volunteering is one of the ways that ecosystem stays strong. It’s not just symbolic; it’s operational, relational, and consistent. If public action is a declaration of values, volunteering is the practice of those values over time.

Reach out to explore ways to share volunteer opportunities, organize group participation, or collaborate in ways that feel aligned and reciprocal.

To find out more about the roles available and thank you gifts please click here.