Bumbershoot 2023!

"Bumbershoot" is the name of a famous music and art festival that happens every Labor Day weekend in Seattle, since the early 70's. I went to it once in my first years in the US, but it was a terrible experience: it got cold early and I wasn't dressed for that, I had injured my foot previously therefore I could barely walk, so I don't think it really counted as my first experience in it. Also, in recent years Bumbershoot was in crisis, lacking an idea about what it should be, losing lots of money not being very sure what it should be about, and finally it just hasn't happened since COVID-19.

So it felt like a great first experience yesterday when I could actually go to Bumbershoot and enjoy myself, and the festival was back, with new organizers, a renewed focus on art and music of all kinds, and a glorious sunny and warm day to top it all off. The idea of the festival is to be a really tasty all you can eat buffet of art in many forms: live music, sculpture, painting, installations, events, fashion, film and a whole lot more. I could watch some really cool music in the five stages spread around the Seattle Center, plus some quite interesting and thought provoking art in exposition venues in different places at the Center. The SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) participated as well, showing some interesting short movies in their little theater in the Seattle Center. To show how diverse it was, there was even a Witches Temple (where I got a really nice Reiki massage, by the way). The organizers put a lot of care and thought: for example, there was a quiet room where people could chill out if needed. Everything felt really well organized and I had a great time. One last curious detail: for whatever reason, Amazon was giving away free popsicles to everybody, and I have to say they were quite good.









































Location: 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109, USA

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