The weeklies have pissing contests over the length of their Bumbershoot
issues (the Stranger’s is 156 pages vs. the Weekly’s
meager 112 pages) and both dailies have their own guides. Here at
Seattle Metroblogging, we realize that we’re just a scrappy weblog with
no business putting out hundreds of pages of advice for attending
Seattle’s biggest and best arts and music festival.
Still, most of us love Bumbershoot and wanted to get in on the fun of
giving you some of our suggestions.

Seattle Metroblogging’s Tips & Tricks for your Bumbershoot
Experience

Your Agenda, Should You Choose to Accept It

There are at least two schools of thought on having an agenda for your
time at Bumbershoot:

• plan ahead: Look at the schedule before you go. Are there
  acts that you definitely want to see? If missing them will leave you
  heartbroken or just down in the dumps, expect lines at most venues and
  plan to show up early. When you get there, find your inner line Zen and
  don’t get freaked out by the size of the group waiting to see your
  beloved performer. Except in rare circumstances, you will probably get
  inside the venue. The volunteers and crowd coordinators will tell you
  otherwise, but they’re usually wrong. The good part about these
  warnings is that they chase away all but the true believers, improving
  your chances.
• don’t plan ahead: With that in mind, a highly enjoyable
  part about Bumbershoot last year was discovering wonderful new music
  almost by accident. While there were a few acts I really wanted to see
  (Pixies. Duh!), for the most part you can just show up and wander around
  until you find something enjoyable. Bumbershoot is a smorgasbord and
  it’s most fun when you try a little bit of everything — even something
  you might think you don’t like.
• dead trees: unless you have a photographic memory, bring a
  schedule for your back pocket. It will make your wandering, planning,
  or hybrid-wandering/planning much more productive. As we mentioned
  above, there are several choices: the Stranger, the Seattle Weekly, the
  Seattle Times, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer all have their
  version of a schedule and program. The Bumbershoot website has PDF versions to print out [#], or you can buy cute laminated schedules
  on site, too.
• a related note about wristbands: You need a free paper
  wristband plastic token to get into the evening mainstage shows. If you’re absolutely
  sure that you aren’t going, don’t bother and leave the paper
  wristband token for
  someone who actually wants it. If you get there too late to get one,
  don’t panic. There are hundreds of people who pick up a paper
  wristband token out
  of sheer herd mentality. Hang out by the exits and ask (beg?) early
  departers for their certain-to-be-unused paper
  wristband token. You can put it
  back together again with one of the many free stickers certain to be
  distributed by vendors. Or, be crafty and make your own. The wristband
  check is incredibly cursory and making a fake isn’t that difficult.

don’t think it’s only about music.

• words: Cat’s absolute favorite performance last year was
  Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) who gave a rambling, engaging and, in the end, very
  moving talk about himself and his work. Great entertainment and highly
  inspirational. Another hit from last year was the Pollack–Hodgeman
  dialog. As usual, this year’s festival is packed with literary events;
  so don’t forget to try to catch a few of them. They provide a nice
  change of pace and a good opportunity to sit down and relax during the
  day.
• arts: Another excellent reprieve from the heat (if
  we’re lucky) or rain (if we’re not) and crowds is the visual arts
  section. Standout exhibits this year include In Resonance and Art
  of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion.
• Speaking of posters:
  another thing that we really like is
  the Flatstock poster sale. Every year’s installation (this is it’s
  third year at Bumbershoot) has gotten better and this year’s is no
  exception. It’s a chance to see some great art (& meet the artists)
  and to buy cool & collectible posters at really good prices.
• film: Expect the OneReel film festival to have an
  amazing line-up of short films and long lines to get in at all times.
  Unless there’s something you’re dying to see, it’s probably best to
  pick a random time when the wait isn’t gigantic and there aren’t other
  must-see performances. Suck it up and wait to get in and be surprised
  by whatever is showing.

practical details regarding the physical environment

• the elements: Remember that you’re probably going to
  be outside in Seattle for most of the day. This means that you get to
  put your local layering expertise to good use. Pack a raincoat and
  sunscreen, but not an umbrella (the irony of forbidden
  umbrellas at a festival called Bumbershoot has not been lost on us).
  But, pack lightly — you’re stuck carrying your gear throughout the day
  in crowded quarters. In the event of hot sunny days, the Seattle Weekly
  has a tradition of passing out goofy straw hats. Get them while they’re
  available and modify to suit your own personal style.
• crowd control:
  Some people are kept away from Bumbershoot by all the talk of how
  crowded it gets. This is all a matter of perspective — with the right
  attitude, even the crowd-phobic will find the mobs quite manageable.
  Considering how uncomfortable your average club or concert venue is,
  Bumbershoot is a picnic. Try to familiarize yourself with the layout of
  Seattle Center and don’t let the hordes of people traveling the main
  thoroughfares freak you out. Cutting across lawns is much more fun,
  anyway.
• escapes: When the sun, heat, and people get to be
  too much, find a cool (dry) place to hang out. A consistent favorite is
  the  EMP Sky Church, where you’re likely to find some really
  interesting smaller acts. Be aware that the “let’s take a quick look
  inside the $20 EMP” crowd may increase the line sizes, but once you’re
  inside, it’s climate-controlled and there’s a beer garden to soothe
  away
  the crowd anxieties.
• hungry? Don’t eat inside Bumbershoot. This isn’t a
  popular choice, because people do seem to love those greasy elephant
  ears and giant strawberry shortcake booths. But the prices are horribly
  jacked up, and the food just isn’t that good. Get some fried food or
  corn on a stick if you must, but get your hand stamped and
  duck out to the QFC or Larry’s Market for real food. Or to any of the
  lovely
  restaurants on lower Queen Anne. There’s always a chocolate milkshake
  at Dick’s.
• go early: If you truly want to take advantage of
  Bumbershoot, you’re not going to do it while being bumped by everyone’s
  elbow. About 3 pm, the crowds will converge. Or earlier. Luckily, it’s
  cloudy today. Rain makes the crowds go away. Run out to Bumbershoot
  while it’s raining. And pick up a bracelet if you think you want to go
  to a mainstage show.
• getting inside: Entry
  lines are typically shorter on the North side of the
  Center.
• the call of nature: Upon arrival at Seattle Center, first
  time Bumbershoot goers should first and foremost scope out the bathroom
  locations. As silly as that sounds, many of the bathrooms at the Center
  aren’t very obvious and in the big crowds the festival tends to
  attract, there can be some long, long lines unless you’ve been smart
  enough to seek out the less obvious facilities. 
• cash money: There are few ATMs (and they often run
  out of bills); so take
  money
  with you. Take cash — lots of vendors don’t take credit cards and it’s
  a hassle, anyway. 

good citizenship

• share the love: Take some
  small bills for the buskers. Especially the ones who don’t clog major
  arterial routes. If you’re
  willing to pay $30 a day to be herded like cattle, you should be able
  to part with a buck for any street performer you stop to watch. And
  some of the street performers are both charming and amazing.
• that guy/girl: This
  is
  a piece
  of advice to a small audience: please don’t do that hippie chick dance
  to every kind of music. Or at all. You know what I mean: blond girls
  in dreadlocks with Indian skirts, too much patchouli, and that glazed
  look in their eyes. I swear, once I saw a hapless hippie girl doing
  that damned dance to a bagpiper. Please, desist.
• line manners: If you
  want to use the
  buddy system to deal with long lines, that’s cool when it’s one person
  leaving and the other(s) staying and switching off with them but if
  there are five of you and four of you want to leave the line for more
  than a couple seconds, it’s really going to piss people off for the
  four of you to rejoin the one in line just minutes before the doors
  open.

A few things that we’re excited about seeing,
just in case you’re curious

Friday

• I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I have yet to
  see Smoosh or Blue Scholars. I hope to remedy that today as a warm up to seeing Garbage on the mainstage or the OneReel “Best of the Fest” [JB]

Saturday

• Vamola (multiple days). I
  always enjoy the
  VAMOLA! dancers in the afternoon. They are energetic and glittery and
  somewhat unclad. It makes ya wanna dance along with them. (and they
  like that!) [ZA]
• 826 Seattle Benefit A big
  literary reading
  thing, with
  Dave Eggers, Daniel Handler, Sarah Vowell, et al. Expect massive crowds
  and show up early. Seattle is nothing if not bookish. [SJ, JB]
• Flatstock (multiple days,
  see above). It’s worth going
  early in the weekend for the best selection of posters. [CN, JB]
• Visqueen &
  Harvey
  Danger: Two local acts worth seeing on their home turf [JB]

Sunday

• Elvis Costello [SJ]
• Hiphop 101 [JNA]
• Math and Physics Club [JB]

Monday

• the Decemberists have the unfortunate honor of
  having the first performance at the Mainstage, but it’s worth showing
  up early to see them. [JB]
• Ted Leo + Pharmacists [JB]
• STREB dance troupe (a friend of mine is in it) [SJ]
• Midival Punditz [CN]
• more recommendations from earlier this year [mb]

Acknowledgments:
Tips, Tricks, and Recommendations brought to you by Cat, Joann,
Josh, Shauna, Zahira, & Zee. This is Carolyn’s first Bumbershoot so
she will share her first-timer experiences as things develop; at press
time, Naiah was still too broken up about Devo’s non-attendance to
participate. Editing this very long post makes me realize why the
Stranger is so proud of putting
together its massive pull-out guide — even more impressive since this
year’s doesn’t have a “celebrity guest editor”.
Finally, we’re always open to your suggestions, please feel free to add your own advice in the comments!

Related posts:

1. recycled: bumbershoot tips & tricks
2. recycling : your 2008 bumbershoot survival tips and tricks guide of advice
3. more bumbershoot love
4. bumbershoot hasn’t been free for 26 years
5. Bumbershoot 2007: Your Guide to Surviving the Chaos