This year the Othello International Festival joins with the Rainier Valley Heritage Festival!

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Save the date for Sunday August 12th, 2018! We are busy finalizing our entertainment lineup, vendors, games and equipment for the festival. We are still looking for craft vendors as well as other businesses who want to have a booth at our festival, so if you are interested please contact us via the contact page. We look forward to seeing you!

Thanks to our Festival Sponsors!

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Othello Park will be under construction for most of 2018 to update the irrigation, install a new playground and update the ball courts. Don’t worry! None of the amenities will be taken away, they will only be improved! But we just have to be patient.

Here’s a graphic of the planned playground renovations:

Playground Renovations

We’ve been meeting as a Board and we’re excited to begin planning for the 2016 International Music and Arts Festival.  We recently sat down with our trusted graphic designer at Penniless Projects.  This year we’re working more closely with the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce to promote the Rainier Valley Culturefest Weekend with even more gusto in 2016.

Also in the works are a few new projects we’ll be providing updates on in the coming weeks.  If you would like to get involved, join us at our next board meeting!  We will meet next on Monday, January 11, 2016.  Email us to find out how to join by visiting our contact page!  If you cannot make the meeting, but have some ideas for the festival, stop by our Festival Idea page and make your voice heard.

As Seattle runs short of summer Sunday Seafair events, not to be missed is the annual Othello Park International Music and Arts Festival whose theme this year is  O! hello Othello Fun in Many Languages.  To be held August 16 from noon to 6:00, this “other half” of the Rainier Valley Festival Weekend happens under majestic old trees that crown the pastoral beauty of Othello Park located a short block from the Othello Link light rail station.

This proudly diverse southeast Seattle neighborhood comes together in its favorite open space that day to show case its rich cultural heritage by featuring authentic music, dance and food from East Africa, the South Pacific Islands, the Filipinas, Latin America, and more.  Audience participation is encouraged for frolicking and fun on the dance floor under tutelage of the performers.  Art creation stations will be available for children of all ages to express their creativity in a variety of media.  Games, prizes, bouncy houses, the Parks hillside slide, and a petting zoo starring Mighty Mo, the camel are a few attractions to keep the kids entertained.

After filling your tummy without emptying your wallets, you can wander through an array of vendor stalls featuring businesses, community organizations, and projects.  At  the end of the day join with the neighborhood in a procession along Martin Luther King Jr. Way South to greet a new installation of street banners displaying the neighborhood logo in 40 of its locally spoken languages.  This is a unique Seafair summer experience for the whole family!