Olympia Funk Fest's fourth year puts Cimafunk and Big Sam's Funky Nation in downtown's old rooms

Funk OFF! returns Jan. 29–31, 2027, with Cimafunk, Big Sam's Funky Nation and Polyrhythmics. Its home crews are still the reason to go early.

Late January in Olympia usually means wet sidewalks and early dark. For the past three winters it has also meant a line under the Capitol Theater marquee on Fifth Avenue, and horn sections warming up in rooms built for silent films and ballroom dances. The festival is betting on that again.

The Olympia Funk Festival, billed as Funk OFF!, returns Friday, Jan. 29 through Sunday, Jan. 31, 2027 for its fourth edition. The festival's own announcement names the headliners: Cimafunk, Toyesauce feat. NOLA All Stars, Super Sonic Shorties, Polyrhythmics, Diggin' Dirt, Big Sam's Funky Nation, McTuff and Outer Orbit, "and so much more." Our listing shows 23 acts so far, among them Andy Coe, The Psycodelics, Scott Law, Mr. Vale's Math Class, Funkways and Champagne Bubblebath. Tickets are on sale now through the festival's nonprofit ticketing page.

The headline acts set the tone. Cimafunk and Big Sam's Funky Nation are the touring names, the ones a festival of this size builds its posters around. Toyesauce arrives with a NOLA All Stars band, and the festival has leaned toward New Orleans since its first year. The 2024 debut brought in George Porter Jr. & The Runnin' Pardners and The Rumble Ft. Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr..

Still, the Northwest crews are what make this festival Olympia's own. Polyrhythmics, McTuff and Outer Orbit were all on the 2024 lineup's local bill, and all three are back. If you only plan around the out-of-town names, you'll miss the sets this crowd tends to stay out late for. Catch the regional acts early in the evening, when the rooms are still filling and you can stand close to the band.

If you only plan around the out-of-town names, you'll miss the sets this crowd tends to stay out late for.

The festival uses downtown as its grounds. A calendar listing for the 2027 edition names four rooms: the Historic Capitol Theater, the Olympia Ballroom, the Olympia Center and Ilk Brewing. Ilk hosts free all-ages programming, and the Olympia Center hosts free masterclasses for young musicians. Children 15 and under get in free.

The Capitol Theater anchors the weekend. The theater at 206 Fifth Ave. SE opened in 1924, was designed by Olympia architect Joseph Wohleb, and has been run by the Olympia Film Society since the 1980s. It survived a 1937 fire and plaster damage in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. These days it is the room where a funk band with a full horn line sounds the way it should: loud, warm, and a little ragged at the edges.

The festival's bigger argument is about the town. It moves people between several downtown doors in one weekend, keeps a free tier for kids and all-ages fans, and treats teaching as part of the program. That kind of local design is hard to fake. The touring names change every year, but the infrastructure is homegrown.

So circle the last weekend in January, and decide in advance which night is for Cimafunk and which is for the hometown bands. Then bring a rain shell you won't mind leaving at coat check. You won't need it once Polyrhythmics count off.

Sources: Oly Funk Fest – Funk OFF! (official site, 2027 lineup announcement) (olyfunkfest.com); Oly Funk Fest – Tickets (olyfunkfest.com); 2027 Olympia Funk Festival – Funk OFF! (Zeffy nonprofit ticketing) (zeffy.com); KNKX calendar: 4th Annual Olympia Funk Fest – FUNK OFF! January 29–31, 2027 (knkx.org); Live for Live Music: Olympia Funk Festival coverage (liveforlivemusic.com); Capitol Theater (Olympia) – Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)