Ways to Celebrate Bumbershoot, #5
People in the Park, 1976 Bumbershoot Poster by Jacob Lawrence, courtesy of One Reel
In honor of its 40th anniversary, Bumbershoot rolled out a list of 40 ways you can help celebrate. They've been going on all summer, which means you missed out. It's never too late to party, though, so we're here to suggest 5 last-minute ways to participate.
The festival later known as Bumbershoot started in 1971, before most of us were born. It was a very different era.
The first article with the moniker Bumbershoot in the Seattle Times ran in 1973 on the entertainment pages. It was right next to ads for strip clubs as well as porn films at Bellevue's drive-in movie theater.
Another Bumbershoot Festival '73 article discussed grants dispensed by a number of arts organizations. Unity, a performance by black artists, received the kingly sum of $1000 in state and federal funds. But the article goes on to describe $1000 from Allied Arts to young director Karl Krogstad for "new animated techniques and multiple soundtracks". A bit of internet surfing reveals that Krogstad and his UW cohorts created an experimental porn film The Last Bath, which included "three minutes of really cool psychedelic visuals".
Coincidentally, Bumbershoot had its first film festival in 1973. It included a long list of short films such as the 1902 French classic A Trip to the Moon, the trippy 1946 short Ritual in Transfigured Time, Century 21's House of Science, claymation by Bruce Bickford (do yourself a favor and click through to see Twin Peaks in clay), 1959's Academy Award winner for Best Cartoon Ricky and Rocky, Gunvor Nelson's Moons Pool, a profile of M. C. Escher called Adventures in Perception and also two hours of "film showings for young people" at the Flag Pavilion each day.
If you've been following links to the 73 film fest, you've already figured out the #5 way to celebrate Bumbershoot. Sit back and watch the some art on the boob tube. But none of that boob exploitation stuff, Bumbershoot is a family friendly event.
First Bumbershoot article alongside ads for Little Sisters and Cheerleaders on May 9, 1973 Seattle Times page 19. Grants article July 6, 1973 Seattle Times page 18. Film showing listings August 23, 1973 Seattle Times page 27.
