Welcome to the Northwest Folklife Festival Ethnic Food Village application process. The 37th annual Northwest Folklife Festival will be held at Seattle Center Memorial Day weekend, May 23-26, 2008. Mark your calendar now for Oct. 18, 2007, this year’s application postmark deadline.

The Northwest Folklife Festival is a community celebration of folk and ethnic traditions that brings more than 250,000 people together for what has become one of the nation’s largest free festivals and one of the region’s signature events. For more information about the Festival, please visit our website at http://www.nwfolklife.org.

If you wish to be part of the 2008 Festival,
you can apply online this year for the first time.
We will not send out paper applications this year
except by special request.

Just follow the link to the online application any time you would like to fill out the application. You will create an account and then enter your application under your own ID and password. If you do not have all the information you need, you can fill it out partially and return later to finish it. The application will not be submitted until you have completed it and pressed the "Submit" button.

Each year a new jury of qualified food experts is selected to choose the coming Festival’s food merchants. We will pre-screen the applications to limit the food jurying to those applicants whose history and experience are most suitable for the Folklife Festival. Only those applicants who pass the first screening will be invited to submit samples to the food jury on November 10.

Applicants will be notified of their jury status by Nov. 2. The jury meets only one time with goals of insuring high quality food and providing Festival visitors with a diverse choice of food items for reasonable prices. Northwest Folklife and the jury make the final selection based on many factors all of which are listed on the reverse side of this sheet.

Read carefully the following information. YOUR APPLICATION MUST BE SUBMITTED ON OR BEFORE OCTOBER 18, 2008 to be considered. The jury takes place on Saturday, November 10, 2007, at Seattle Center. Detailed information regarding the jury will be sent in early November to those applicants who have been accepted through the pre-screening to participate in the food jury process. Please call the Merchant Coordinator at 206-684-7327 if you have any questions or if you would prefer that we send you a paper application for submission. Or, you can download a pdf version of the Application to mail in if you would like. Click here.

Food Booth Information
Food Booth Area: 37 booths located throughout Seattle Center grounds.
Hours of Operation: Friday, May 23 through Monday, May 26, 11:00am - 9:30pm
Fees: $2200 - $2850. See online application with more booth fee and location information.
BBQ Space: $200.00 for 5' x 10' space in addition to booth space fee. A limited number of spaces are available - your request does not guarantee you a space.
Payment: One half of the booth fee is due January 15, 2008, and the balance is due Friday, May 10, 2008.

Technical Information:

• Merchants provide all display and cooking equipment.
• Installation of electricity and lighting is available at additional costs.
• Canopies are available for rent: 10' x 15' for $375.00 or 10' x 20' for $450.00, plus Washington State excise tax. Canopy rental includes set-up, tear down and back and side walls.
• Northwest Folklife must approve all portable structures.

Application Requirements:

• All applicants must have festival or restaurant experience.
• Only one application per person or organization. If you own more than one restaurant, please submit only one application.
• The Festival has several official food and drink sponsors whose brands you must use if serving their type of products.
• No powder drinks.
• Note: it is essential that you complete the Festival reference section on the application.
• If you have not been accepted at Folklife in the past, please send a photo (preferred) or sketch of your booth as a digital image with the application or by mail to Merchant Coordinator, Northwest Folklife, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109.
• Jury Selection: The food jury takes place on Saturday, November 10, 2007. If you are accepted to participate in the food jury, you are required to bring samples of each item on your menu, presented in the serving size you intend to sell at the Festival. For example, if you are selling two eggrolls for $2.00, we want to see two eggrolls (not five) in the size you would be selling them for at the Festival. We need to see exactly what people will be getting for their dollar.

• Overall menu balance/pricing
• Food quality
• Prior experience
• Authenticity
• Fiscal responsibility
• Technical feasibility
• Booth presentation
• Health Department Scores
  

To get a paper copy of an application form for the 2008 Festival, click here. To add your name to the Folklife notification list for next year, you can complete a form on this page.