Bumbershoot '08: Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!!

With this year's Bumbershoot nearly upon us, let's continue to hope that the weekend weather keeps looking good. If you don't have tickets yet, stop by your local Starbucks to avoid the lines and fees at the gates. Check out a few more tips (bring water and a jacket! take the bus! wear sunscreen! call your mother!) at the Bumbershoot site.

While there's plenty of music acts to see (and to harass by requesting their own versions of STP's "Plush"), there's so much more to do at Bumbershoot this weekend. SIFF Cinema is once again hosting the One Reel Film Festival, which means short films all day, every day. One Pot is doing a residency, so foodies can have a monster meal each night at 6 p.m. KEXP delivers intimate performances by several festival bands at their somewhat secret venue at Seattle Center. There's still a few spots available, so RSVP to do it live, or just catch the shows on the radio or online. There's three stages for comedy this year, including such guaranteed hilarity as Human Giant, Dartmondo, and Laff Hole, which means there's plenty of funny to go around. But be sure to check out the byzantine rules for getting into Bumbershoot comedy events.

For those who are more high-minded, there are panels and readings including such literary luminaries as Sherman Alexie, Saul Williams, Lauren Weedman, Dan Clowes, Adrian Tomine, Ryan Boudinot, William Gibson (naturally accompanied by "Awesome"'s John Osebold on guitar), and the good folks at Cheap Wine and Poetry (including Marya Sea Kaminski and Bret Fetzer). There's tons of visual arts to be appreciated all three days, including photography and the Henry Art Gallery's satellite space in the Northwest Rooms, and Flatstock at Fisher Pavilion, where you can pick up some of the best rock posters out there for a mere pittance. The Bagley Wright Theatre is hosting scads of dance and performance art from the Pacific Northwest Ballet to the Seattle School and the On the Boards B-sides. And we're not even going to try to describe the art installations that will be out on the lawn from the likes of Australian stilt-walking circus troupe Strange Fruit.

And then there's the random fun care of corporations, like skate and BMX demos at the Rockstar Energy Drink vert ramp. Exxxxxtreme! There's also the Dell Summer Rocks dome, where you can make a digital mixtape, T-shirt, pin, or temporary tattoo, and catch live interviews with some of the bands performing at the festival like PWRFL Power and Black Eyes & Neckties. And finally, there's the Samsung Sound Lounge, where for whatever reason, former Seattle Seahawks fullback Mack Strong will be the guest DJ on Saturday from 5:00–5:45 p.m.

Photo of fountain crowd care of Sean Pecknold.