History

Seattle International Children’s Festival (SICF) was founded in 1986 as a project of the Seattle Center and a cornerstone of then Mayor Royer’s “Seattle Is A Kids’ Place” campaign. SICF became an independent not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1991.

As one of the only major global cultural event focused on young audiences in the Pacific Northwest (and one of only a handful in North America), SICF serves over 35,000 people annually through its Festival and related education programs. SICF is also a nationally-recognized leader in innovative programming for youth and has been lauded by The New York Times as “one of the most far-reaching arts festivals for young people in the country.” Seeking to improve and diversify cultural programming for youth, both at home and on stages around the world, SICF collaborates with international artists who typically perform for adults to create performances for young audiences.

In 1998, SICF began a commissioning program specifically to generate new works. Every Festival since has featured one or more commissioned world premieres, several of which have gone on to tour internationally.

In 2000, SICF expanded to offer, in conjunction with the thriving Seattle Festival, an annual satellite Festival in Tacoma.

SICF supports and trains teachers to integrate global arts across many subjects and grade bands by producing low-cost educator training workshops, and providing some 1,500 teachers a year with extensive free curricular resources.

Since 2000 SICF has been the leading partner in a powerful arts education program, the International Arts Consortium (IAC), at two Seattle public schools, John Stanford International School and Hamilton International Middle School. With major funding provided by the Washington State Arts Commission, the goal of the IAC is to create and perpetuate a model for making the arts a central component of international education, and disseminating that model to other schools. In the past seven years, SICF has worked with a group of our state’s most experienced and knowledgeable teaching artists to train and mentor over 30 classroon teachers in ceramics skills, African and Latin dance, African textiles, Indian folk arts, Japanese drumming, calligraphy, and brush-painting, and developed lessons to integrate these arts with other subjects. The IAC also provides for in-school and community performances and exhibits, and an annual trip to the Festival. Lesson plans and photo documentation on IAC’s website are accessible not only to area schools, who have access to IAC artists, but to schools anywhere, as models for developing international arts programs.

The Alliance for Education recognized SICF with an “A+ Partnership Award” for its innovative programs and curriculum leadership in the schools.

Reports on the 2006 Festival indicate that SICF drew audiences from 20 counties, 65 school districts and 266 schools and youth programs in Washington State, plus a returning school from Portland, Oregon. School and community agencies served range from pre-K to college, urban and rural, public, private, and alternative. SICF serves an annual audience of over 33,000 students, teachers and families.

SICF has presented professional performers from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chad, Chili, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Eritrea, First Nations, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latin America, Lakota Nation, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Okinawa, Pacific Islands, Philippines, Poland, Québec, Republic Of Congo, Republic of Guinea, Rwanda, Scotland, South Africa, South Asia, Spain, Switzerland, Tahiti, Tibet, Vietnam.