Seattle Design Festival
Every year, the Seattle Design Festival brings together designers, community members, experts, city officials, and business leaders to celebrate and explore how design improves the quality of our lives and our community.
The 15th anniversary of Seattle Design Festival (SDF) invited designers, artists, community organizations, and creative thinkers to explore our theme: FEEDBACK in our Call for Proposals for the 2025 Festival. Submissions were due May 28 and the SDF’25 Calendar launched June 25 on seadesignfest.org.
The 15th annual Seattle Design Festival will be August 16 – 21 2025, and kicks off at the Block Party August 16-17, a free, 2-day, outdoor street festival featuring hands-on, large-scale design installations, pop-up experiences and presentations connecting the public to the power of design in Lake Union Park; for all ages and abilities. Discover how design shapes our world and immerse yourself in experiences that reveal the power FEEDBACK can have on design—how it transforms ideas, spaces, and communities. Full schedule and info: seadesignfest.org
Ways to Participate
We solicited proposals for three Festival elements at the SDF Block Party (August 16 & 17):
Mainstage Program
– Format: In-person or virtual talks, performances, skill shares, or films
– Duration: 30 minutes to 1 hour (plus 30-minute max setup)
– Learn More About Mainstage Programs
Pop-Up Experience
– Format: Hands-on activities, workshops, or design challenges
– Duration: 1-4 hours (plus 30-minute max load-in/out)
– Learn More About Pop-Up Experiences
Built Installation
– Format: Temporary outdoor structures designed to engage the public
– Duration: Full weekend (18 hours + load-in on August 15 and load-out after 7pm on August 17)
– Commitment Level: Highest
– Learn More About Built Installations
Key Dates & Deadlines
May 28, 5pm PT: Call for Proposals Closed
June 6: Notification of Festival Acceptance
June 18: Final Marketing Material Edits Due
August 15: Built Installation Load-In at Lake Union Park
August 16-21: 2025 Seattle Design Festival!
The 2024 Festival was August 17-22 exploring the theme of WHAT IF?. Call for Proposals launched April 3 and were due May 29 – and we had over 60 Design Teams engaging this year with Installations, Pop-Up Experiences, Mainstage performances and our Mixers.
7,400+ Attendees*!
6 days
34 Festival Sponsors
60 Design Teams
over 340 local and national designers
20 design disciplines
79 Festival Programs
34 Built Installations
20 Pop Up Experiences
9 Mainstage Programs
7 Mixers/Social Events
9 Virtual Mainstage Programs*
29 Press Mentions in 18 Media Outlets
Stay tuned for next year’s festival! More info at seadesignfest.org. Sign up for SDF emails to receive updates.
*Attendance captured so far – reminder you can still attend SDF Virtual Mainstage programs on the SDF YouTube Channel
To see images from this year and past Festivals, visit our Flickr page. Share your photos with us on social media by tagging us @seadesignfest or hashtag #SeattleDesignFestival. Questions? Contact info@seadesignfest.org.
