It’s about that time again.
Time, that is, for a list of things to do in Seattle that don’t involve going to Bumbershoot.
(Dear One Reel: I respect your need to make a profit and I appreciate the efforts you’ve expended in keeping the festival alive, but enough with the “Seattle arts festival” tagline already. Bumbershoot is “the Seattle arts festival” only because it takes place in Seattle. The contemporary structure of the festival is such that it could be held anywhere–there’s so little about the fest tha’s uniquely Seattle any more. Then again, “Booths full of the same old crap as every other fair and festival in Seattle, whatever touring bands we can sign and a small corner of local artwork” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it?)
Here’s my list so far:
1. Take in a viewing of “Hedwig & the Angry Inch” at The Re-Bar
2. Attend the “FTM2004: A Gender Odyssey” conference at Hugo House
3. See one of the greatest so bad, so good, and so bad that it’s good films ever,
Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains
at The Grand Illusion.
…more to follow, but in the meantime, anyone got any other suggestions?
While I admit to being underwhelmed by the lineup this year, I wonder if you could say more about how the festival used to be or could be more uniquely Seattle? I’ve only lived here for a few years; so I can’t compare it to the early versions.
As it stands, I think that OneReel does a good job of bringing together national and local acts from an incredibly wide variety of genres in a way that I haven’t seen in other local or national tours. Maybe that hurts them to some degree, playing to too many audiences, but even though I’m not personally excited about some of the bands I find their willingness to stretch interesting and kind of admirable.
This is the first year where I’m concerned about the ticket price. As they raise prices it will be less and less tempting for people without a specific checklist of bands/art/film/comedy to head down to Seattle Center to discover something new and entertaining. A $25 day rate doesn’t really promote spontaneity.
Oh, I agree that there’s something for everyone, musically speaking, at Bumbershoot–it’s like Lollapalooza, OzzFest and KUBE Summer Jam all in one. Still, I miss the days when I would roll my eyes and groan at yet another appearance by The Young Fresh Fellows (I could be wrong, but I think they played Bumbershoot every year that they were a band) because I miss the days when there would be a few marquee shows and a lot of local acts. Nowadays it seems that the majority of musical acts come from somewhere that is not here. If it were up to me, there would be a lot more Seattle in “Seattle’s arts festival”.
On a related note, considering that going to see musicians perform is basically my raison d’etre it feels weird to say this but I also miss the days when Bumbershoot wasn’t just about what bands you were going to go see. In the past the other arts were every bit a vital component to the festival as music and it hasn’t felt like that in years now.
Maybe that’s only my perception but…well, back in the 80’s even the people I knew who wouldn’t otherwise go take in a visual arts exhibition went and looked at them at Bumbershoot. The quality of the art on display hasn’t declined in the slightest but definitely visual and non-music performing arts have been shoved to the corner at Bumbershoot, both metaphorically and literally.
My final complaint isn’t Bumbershoot specific, it’s any Seattle area festival specific: hand crafted items are great, I enjoy them and I love to be able to support crafters but when I see the exact same work at every festival and almost every booth full of items I could just as easily get at Pier One or Ikea for a much lower price, it’s hard for me to get all excited about what’s on display.