Close of another summer

I should be writing, but instead I'm stressing. My brother-in-law's wedding is Saturday, and the whole family is pretty tense. Hubby's family isn't one for big gatherings, so it makes it hard not to stress when they do have them.

So instead of doing what I should, while I wait for my brunch to cook, I'm going to write about something I've meant to for at least two years now. The Summer Festival season in Seattle.

Seattle's festivals tend to center around three happenings at the Seattle Center on the edge of Downtown Seattle: Northwest Folklife Fest, which happens Memorial Day Weekend at the end of May (the last weekend in May, I believe); Seafair, which is a month-long festival in late July and early August which includes a number of activities I will detail below; and Bumbershoot music festival on the weekend of Labor Day (the first weekend in September, which marks the end of summer, because most schools start session that next week).

Folklife Fest started 1971 as a way to encourage folk arts, and to give people access to those traditional arts they might not otherwise have access to. It was located at the Seattle Center from that very first Festival, and was so popular that it became an annual event that only grew each year. It now has its own foundation, which organizes the event each year, and is one of the biggest events at the Seattle Center each year. Hundreds of muscicians come to play, joined by hundreds of artists and craftspeople who come to sell their art.

Seafair started as a way to celebrate Seattle's Centennial in 1951. As Seattle was well-known for being a community of boaters and sea business, they decided to use that as the focus for the event. Business and community leaders worked hard and in 1950, the first Seafair was celebrated. That first Seafair included many of the main-stays of the festival even today, including local parades, races, a "royal" family created for the events, the Torchlight Parade (which starts at the Seattle Center and works its way through Downtown Seattle from there, ending at Memorial Stadium), and even the Seafair Cup awarded at the hydroplane races. Even the Seafair Pirates attended that first Seafair. Events have grown to include other things as well. The Milk Carton Derby has become the opening event of the festival, where everyone is invited to make a craft and try to get it across Green Lake. The Blue Angels have also been incorporated into the hydroplane races, giving a show over Lake Washington the Saturday the races take place, giving all the spectators (and many of Lake Washington's neighbors) a spectacular show. Even the Bite of Seattle, which takes place at the Seattle Center, has begun to be part of the festivities if not a recognized part of the festival.

Bumbershoot, like Folklife, started in 1971, but unlike Folklife, it had a much rockier start. It's late-summer timing meant that many years, the festival was rained out, and it was only a new group taking over putting on the festival in the early 80s that saved it. They added a fee to get into the festival (still the only one that charges for the full event), and added a lot of high-end acts to the festival. The current mix of well-known local and international acts is highly popular, and has made it one of the longest-running regional musical festivals.

And to conclude, I just have to say that I love living here. There's so much to do, and it always shocks me when people say that they don't have anything to do. As we say about the rain here in Seattle, "If you don't like it, stick around for a few minutes." ;)