Folklife gives a cultural do-over to 1909's Alaska-Yukon-Pacific expo

It's Memorial Day weekend, which means it's time for the most multicultural picnic you'll have all year.

Once again, the Northwest Folklife Festival is upon us.

When the gargantuan, ultra-diverse arts celebration takes over Seattle Center lawns, paths and stages with performances, food, arts and crafts, families flock.

Seattle Center's sprawling campus lies quiet too much, so thank God for Folklife and its life-breathing celebration of culture and tradition. In its 38th year, Folklife has become a tradition in itself. Even if the weather's too cold, people always run into the International Fountain. All that empty Seattle Center space fills with music. As they should, kids dance on Fisher Green.

Another thing that remains every year is a particular cultural focus. You may or may not notice it — a lot of people go to Folklife just to be at Folklife — but the 2009 edition has a theme you'll be hearing about all summer: the centennial of Seattle's 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Folklife is the first of many upcoming events that will commemorate it.

The A-Y-P was, like Folklife, a celebration of our region's diversity — except with a decidedly 1909 take on human rights. It was called a world's fair, President Taft came, saw, golfed, left, and millions of people looked at Northwest minority groups in boxes, figurative and literal.

"The communities involved in 1909 are again involved," says Devon Leger, assistant director of programs for Folklife, referring to the event's cultural focus on communities such as Pacific Islanders, Alaska Natives and the Chinese. "But in the 1909 exhibition, they didn't have a voice. In 2009 we can hear their voice."

Some 60 groups will be showcased at Folklife, each group represented by community coordinators who work with Folklife organizers to present their culture on their own terms.

"The A-Y-P Eskimo exhibit was stereotypical," says Leger. "It portrayed them as exotic. In 2009 the Inuits are representing themselves."

And so are the other communities. Every continent (besides Antarctica) is part of Folklife — but the fest is more than just geographically diverse.

Take Saberpulse, for instance, a musician flying in from Scotland to join the 8-Bit Showcase at the Vera Project on Saturday. "8-Bit" refers to old-school video-game systems like the original Nintendo, systems with games whose beeping, whining, often classical-sounding soundtracks occupy a special place in pop culture. Repurposed with various modulators, the old sounds become wild new compositions, a type of music called Chiptune — a genre in which Saberpulse is a big deal.

Compare that to some of the most-ancient music at Folklife 2009, such as the sounds of Warren Chang's Seattle Chinese Orchestra, performing in the Chinese Arts Showcase Sunday. Mayor Greg Nickels will speak before the Chinese lions run around, and Seattle Chinese Orchestra plays music from deep dynastic history.

Most Folklife musicians are from around here, but many sound like they're from somewhere else. Walk around and with your eyes closed and hear the future, the past, Argentina, Finland, Zimbabwe.

And music's only part of the entertainment. There's storytelling, lecturing and participatory dance and music events. You can learn from masters how to cut a (Turkish) rug or march to your own (Japanese) beat.

Folklife also offers 92 craft and art booths, 68 booths in the Uncommon Market (a global marketplace), and 38 food booths. Whichever country you're looking for, you'll find it.

Folklife is technically free, but a $10 donation is recommended. And despite the fact that there was a shooting at Folklife last year — and a pending executive order from the mayor that would ban guns in Seattle Center — Folklife's still a mellow party. A pleasant reminder that the world is bigger than Seattle, and Seattle is bigger than it seems.

Andrew Matson: 206-464-2153 or amatson@seattletimes.com