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Writer's pictureSMASH STAFF

Bumbershoot is Back!

Legendary Festival Celebrates 50 Years this Labor Day Weekend, September 2 - 3, 2023 at Seattle Center

This year’s event marks the festival’s 50th anniversary, cementing its legacy as one of the oldest recurring festivals in the United States. This year will see curator and producer New Rising Sun bring their expertise in immersive programming to the festival - an experience that amplifies the art, music, food, technology, and culture that permeates the region.




BUMBERSHOOT 2023 LINEUP


Saturday (9/2) features sets by Sleater-Kinney, Zhu, AFI, Brittany Howard, Sunny Day Real Estate, Durand Jones, Matt and Kim, Maya Jane Coles, Ride, DOMi & JD Beck, Puddles Pity Party, Destroy Boys, Hunx and his Punx, Thunderpussy, Screaming Females, Chong The Nomad, Radioactivity, Dave B., Wimps, Scarves, and more.


Sunday (9/3) features The Revivalists, Jawbreaker, Fatboy Slim, Phantogram, Band Of Horses, Descendents, Bomba Estereo, Uncle Waffles, A-Trak, Valerie June, Pussy Riot, Benny The Butcher, Shannon and the Clams, Temples, Dandy Warhols, Algernon Cadwallader, Gustaf, Debby Friday, Cassandra Lewis, Simone BG, Pink Boa, and more.


Check out the full lineups below and at bumbershoot.com/artist-lineup.






New Rising Sun principal, artist, and producer Greg Lundgren leads a curatorial team presenting an array of creative visual offerings and mediums. A highlight of Bumbershoot’s 2023 arts programming is Out Of Sight, a large-scale group exhibition in Fisher Pavilion and throughout Seattle Center. The group show represents an annual survey of contemporary visual arts from throughout the Pacific Northwest that will blend commercial and non-commercial art and showcase artists assembled by a team of regional curators. The Art Not Terminal will house the Bumbershoot 50th Anniversary Retrospective: a visual and atmospheric reflection on Bumbershoot’s half-century of history through crowd-sourced photography, posters, and memorabilia. Bumbershoot asks the public to participate in the retrospective and share their festival documentation to help compile a colorful and celebrated audience-driven portrait.


Additional creative zones will include: A Fashion District focused on the Pacific Northwest’s design community with creators working in beauty, apparel, and body art, such as regional fashion designers Fuchsia Lin and Janelle Abbott, a Nail Art Dome curated by Peka Grayson, runway programs by Laura Cassidy, Nahaan, Mona Real and Ellie Fein, plus Burleskaraoke curated by Ruby Mimosa. The Recess District will redefine “play” and blur the lines between performer and performance, featuring SOS Professional Wrestling, Roll Around Seatown, agility performances, and more. Some additional offerings include a large-scale sculpture from renowned local artist Wolf Deluxe and a witch temple curated by Ylva Mara Radziszewski and Kiki Robinson of The Living Altar, featuring tarot, past-life, astrology, and palmist readings. The AERO Space and Ascendance Studios will curate a pole dancing program that breaks stereotypes and celebrates pole dancers from throughout the region and prepare to be amazed by BEYOND, the art and technology program curated by Sandy Cioffi and Gretchen Burger of Fearless.


About Bumbershoot:

Established in 1971, Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Arts & Music Festival takes place over Labor Day weekend and stretches across the 74-acre Seattle Center beneath the city’s iconic Space Needle. The festival, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023 under the new leadership of New Rising Sun (Joe Paganelli, Greg Lundgren and Steven Severin), celebrates the art, music, food, technology and culture that permeates the Pacific Northwest. In return to Bumbershoot’s origin, it is an embrace and elevation of art and community. The programming is built locally and managed by a team with deep roots in regional arts production, working in tandem with local non-profits, public schools and historically marginalized voices.


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