In our 15th year of Festival, we’re looking back through the archives with a Festival Rewind.

Whether you’re planning to visit the Block Party for the first time this year, or you’ve been designing built installations since 2011, thank you for helping shape SDF! Let’s revisit some highlights from throughout the years.

• 2011 – SDF is founded as a strategic initiative of AIA Seattle to “encourage more public dialogue about the role of design in urban life.”
• 2013-16 explored themes Design in Health, Design for Equity and Design Change, solidifying the Festival’s goals of exploring timely social topics.
• 2016 – The Center for Architecture and Design opens, co-created with Seattle Architecture Foundation (SAF) and AIA WA Council as a space for year-round programming, with the first collaborative exhibition between SDF + SAF.
• 2019 – The Block Party moves from Occidental Square to Lake Union Park.
• 2020 – SDF: “About Time,” was a virtual Festival launched during COVID-19, on its 10th anniversary. This year demonstrated our community’s resilience in times of uncertainty.
• 2023 – SDF’s theme Curiosity explored what the future of design might look like in Seattle and beyond, with 95 Partners, 79 programs, and 10.6K+ attendees.
• 2025 – SDF celebrates its 15th year with the theme FEEDBACK, largely thanks to the unwavering support from volunteers, sponsors, partners, and all who have helped shape the Festival over time.

Seattle Design Festival has transformed over the years, but much has remained the same: we continue exploring timely social topics, like 2013-16’s themes of Design in Health, Design for Equity and Design Change, and we remain supported by a dedicated community of architects, artists, designers and volunteers who design, shape, and organize the Festival. Cheers to 15 years of Festival!