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50 Years of Northwest Folklife Feature: Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño

Northwest Folklife celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2021 with a commemorative logo, highlighting the people and the communities who make Northwest Folklife and all of our programs what it is today. This celebratory 50th logo was designed to feature the core of our organization and one that encompasses who we are—and that is YOU, our community.

Within the 5 is an illustration of a woman dancing with a woven basket full of colorful flowers atop her head. This illustration is inspired by a photo of Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño performing at the Mural Amphitheater at the 2018 Northwest Folklife Festival. This photo was taken by Christopher Nelson.



Close-up of Northwest Folklife's 50th logo featuring an illustration of a woman dancing in a white shirt and blue skirt carrying a basket of flowers on her head

Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño (Oaxacan Cultural Group), founded in Seattle nearly twenty years ago, is dedicated to promoting the rich cultural traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico. They believe in the importance of passing on these traditions of music, dance, language, and values especially to young people of Oaxacan descent while also sharing them with the broader community. 

Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño produces the annual summertime festival in Seattle’s Blanche Lavizzo Park called, La Guelagetza, bringing together hundreds to celebrate Latino culture, featuring hours of live dance and music with Banda Gozona. They have performed at the Northwest Folklife Festival with Banda Gozona since approximately 2006.

Woman dancing in Oaxacan cultural attire, white blouse and blue skirt, and a woven basket of flowers on her head

Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño at the 2018 Northwest Folklife Festival | Photo by Christopher Nelson

Fulgencio Lazo pictured in a light blue checkered button-up shirt in front of an orange background


The founder of Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño is Fulgencio Lazo, a trained as a printmaker who works predominantly with acrylics on canvas in his studios in Seattle and Oaxaca, Mexico. Fulgencio also served on the Cultural Focus Committee in 2018 for the theme Echoes Of Aztlán And Beyond. This committee comprised of local artists, leaders, and culture bearers from the Latinx and Chicano/a communities helped to curate Northwest Folklife's year-round programming.

For more information about Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño, please contact Fulgencio Lazo at fulgenciolazo@hotmail.com.






You can learn more about Grupo Cultural Oaxaqueño below: