Blog summary: 

• Spotlight at Waterfront Park turns six this summer — a free performance series built with and for Seattle’s BIPOC artists, cultural communities and community partners since 2021.
• Senior Programs Manager Kelli Faryar reflects on what six years of community building sounds like — and invites you to experience it live, free, every Thursday from July 23 through September 24.

---

It started on a single pier, surrounded by construction and possibility. Six years later, Spotlight at Waterfront Park has grown into one of Seattle’s most beloved free music, dance, and performance series—and a living proof of what happens when a public space and a community build something together.

Friends senior programs manager Kelli Faryar (she/her) joined the organization in 2021, just as Pier 62 was opening to the public. Coming off from her tenure as Artistic Director at Northwest Folklife, she arrived with a clear conviction: the waterfront needed a platform that was genuinely of this community, not just for it.

“The city of Seattle opened a new 20-acre park as Seattle’s reimagined front porch,” Kelli says. “And this was Friends of Waterfront Park’s opportunity to provide resources and moments for community partners, cultural communities, and local artists to introduce themselves and share their music and expressions with a broader audience. This is their Park.”

Spotlight was conceptualized and piloted in late fall of 2021, emerging alongside an existing busking program and a desire for something more intentional. Kelli’s goal was simple but ambitious: enhance community involvement, foster direct relationships between local artists and Friends and create a platform that could scale alongside the Park itself.

“We were an organization just reaching out to partners for programming,” Kelli reflects, “and those relationships were just beginning.” Partners like the Union Cultural Center and the Rhapsody Project helped launch Spotlight as a pilot during one of Seattle’s grey, rainy seasons and are examples of partners still collaborating with Friends, some returning to celebrate the Grand Opening Celebration in September 2025. That arc, from a single pier to 20 acres, mirrors the evolution of the organization itself.

Built With Community, Not Just For It 

From the beginning, centering BIPOC and underrepresented communities wasn’t an afterthought—it was the foundation. Artists are selected through partnerships with organizations like 206 Zulu and Unkitawa, through Friends’ year-round open programming roster and through ongoing conversations with community partners as new ideas take shape.

One moment that stays with Kelli: working with The Griot Party Experience, who shared the cultural history of Black and Brown people through storytelling, MCing, dance, music and theater. When rain and winds threatened the forecast, Kelli worried about attendance. Organizer Logic Amen’s response reframed everything.

“‘This is not for audiences,'” Kelli recalls him saying. “‘Our community will show up to convene together and share stories. It was a reminder that the most successful programs aren’t always the ones with the biggest crowds. Sometimes success looks like a community gathering to strengthen its own bonds and having a space on the waterfront to do it.”

What a Stage on the Waterfront Really Means 

For Kelli, offering a platform at Waterfront Park to communities that have historically been underrepresented in mainstream cultural spaces goes beyond performance.

“It means creating space for people to tell those stories on their own terms, rooted in their lived experiences, histories and perspectives,” she says. “The Waterfront holds many layers of history, including difficult and often overlooked stories. Creating space for communities to share those histories is just as important as celebrating culture and creativity.”

That commitment—to reciprocity, belonging, cultural visibility and honoring Indigenous presence—is what has shaped Spotlight from a pilot series into something with staying power.

Six Years In, Still Growing 

What makes Spotlight remarkable isn’t just longevity. It’s the relationships that have deepened over time, the artists who came through Spotlight and went on to headline larger events such as Pier Sounds or Waterfront Block Party and the communities who found a home on the waterfront through this series.

Kelli’s advice to other organizations trying to build authentic, lasting community partnerships? “Build your programs with and for community. They will let you know what the needs are to feel seen, heard, and connected. Come ready to listen and with the resources to support the follow through.”

Spotlight at Waterfront Park returns for its sixth season this summer, with free Thursday evening performances from 6:00-8 p.m., at Pier 58 and the Salish Steps starting on July 23 through September 24. Come see what six years of community building sounds like.

Our gratitude to the community organizations and partners who have been a part of this staple series over the years (list below):

2021

• Union Cultural Center
• Dani Tirrell
• Tracy Wong
• Robbi A. Moore
• N The Kutt
• The Rhapsody Project Songsters
• Tekla Waterfield
• CarLarans

2022

• Julie-C
• Eduardo Mendonça
• Sunshine from Polynesia
• Joyas Mestizas
• Union Cultural Center
• Peter Ali
• The Rhapsody Project Songsters
• DESEO Carmin
• Arami Walker
• Rhythms of India

2023

• Northwest Tap Connection
• One Vibe Africa
• Eduardo Mendonça
• DANDY
• SuperSones
• Haley Graves
• Nrityalaya School of Dance
• Urvasi Dance Ensemble
• STAR (Seattle Tamil Arts of Rhythm)
• Folklore Mexicano Tonantzin
• Melody Institute

2024

• The Griot Party Experience
• Northwest Folklife
• Experience Education
• Union Cultural Center
• Shunpike
• DANDY
• Caribbean Sea Fest
• Caña Dulce Folclore Dance Group
• Unkitawa
• Khmer Community of Seattle King County
• Lady A Productions
• Seattle Frankenfunk
• Alma Villegas Latin Ensemble

2025

• Totem Star
• Red Eagle Soaring
• The Rhapsody Project
• Black & Loud Fest
• The Residency
• Tlalokan
• Mak Fai Lion Dance
• The Griot Party Experience
• Seattle Escribe
• Daybreak Star Radio
• KEXP’s Sounds of Survivance
• Northwest Folklife
• Hālau Hula Pūlamahiaikalikolehua

2026

• STG – Seattle Theatre Group
• Theatre Off Jackson
• Skylit Designs
• Seattle Jazz Fellowship
• Qabila Dance Co
• 206 Zulu
• Daybreak Star Radio
• W.O.W. Women on the Waterfront
• La Quemada: Noche de Cultura featuring Aurelio Valdez
• Northwest Folklife