Results tagged “festival”

                     

From Everest first taking the stage, through the various moments of audio and comedic bliss throughout the long weekend, to the last chords strummed by Metric's James Shaw, we were incredibly thankful for all that Bumbershoot--this city's oldest music festival--has to offer. As we recollect, we invite you to spend some time clicking through this photo gallery made up of shots from the Seattlest Flickr Pool.

Despite what some may lead you to believe, music in Seattle is incredibly rich in its diversity. Sure, we go through obsessive periods honed in on specific genres-- last year it was all about harmony-rich folk, this year it seems to be more about straight-ahead rock—but there is certainly something here that should please every music fan.

The Tillamook County Creamery Association 100th Anniversary Celebration at the Woodland Park Zoo.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the lobby at On the Boards last Friday night, as the audience exiting the 8 p.m. performance of 14/48: The World's Quickest Theatre Festival, clashed with the incoming patrons for the 10:30 show, we found ourselves in the back corner chatting with Seattle director Aimee Bruneau.

Sügisball (Autumn Ball) shows at the Uptown at 4 p.m. today. Set in and around crumbling Soviet-era tower blocks in Estonia (which is a real country!), this Cassavetes-like, slice-of-gritty-life drama follows an almost bewildering number of lonely, yearning, unfulfilled people around. At two unflinching hours, it's not for the faint of heart or saddlesore, but it's a beautiful portrait of what you might call social architecture. And then there's Dead Snow, which we previewed and we're pleased to report our high hopes for Nazi zombies were completely justified. That's spattering the Pacific Place with gore and gray matter at 9:30 p.m. Be there.

Beer enthusiast/evangelist Geoff Kaiser used to write about the beloved beverage for Seattlest before he got wise to the whole, hey, anyone can start a blog thing. God, we miss him bringing his market research back to Seattlest HQ. Check out his Seattlebeernews.com for updates and reviews on many of the events from Seattle Beer Week.

SIFF is making a big deal out of snagging local director Lynn Shelton's Humpday for its Northwest Connections program; it'll be the SIFF Centerpiece Gala on Friday, June 5, and hopefully help raise money to help SIFF pay for their office relocation to the Seattle Center's Alki Room. We saw--and liked-- the "mumblecore bromance" Humpday at Sundance. We'll assume you know the HumpFest backstory. The "local" emphasis of the Northwest Connections program makes for a grab-bag experience: Sundance hit The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle will rub elbows with the filmed-in-Wallingford World's Greatest Dad, starring Robin Williams, and Sandy Cioffi's documentary, Sweet Crude.

Tipster Steve was just reminding us--look at that, it's like a Vermeer up there--that the tulips are in. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is on through April 30, and there are a variety of ways to get there from Seattle, including your car and motorcoach. Says the Bellingham Herald of spring: "The fields are spread out over a 15-mile radius and events are scattered around the entire county. Activities include art shows, cruises and wildlife tours, farms and nurseries, local foods and products, museums and wineries." Now where'd we put our sabots?

One Reel just announced The All-American Rejects, The Ting Tings (who we saw just a few days ago), Brett Dennen, and U.S.E will be on the bill for Bumbershoot 2009. That makes the lineup thus far: "Sheryl Crow / Modest Mouse / The All-American Rejects / Katy Perry / Michael Franti & Spearhead / Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / De La Soul / Raphael Saadiq / The Ting Tings / Brett Dennen / The Long Winters / Sly & Robbie & the Taxi Gang / World Party / MSTRKRFT / Roy Ayers / Common Market / UH HUH HER / Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women / Eric Hutchinson / No Age / Matt & Kim / Dead Confederate / The Cave Singers / Swollen Members / Vieux Farka Touré / Lenka / Gang Gang Dance / Todd Snider / Holy F**k / DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid / Iglu & Hartly / Low vs Diamond / Sera Cahoone / Eleni Mandell / U.S.E. / Carrie Rodriguez / The Honey Brothers / Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head / Extra Golden / Cordero / Forgive Durden / Hey Marseilles / Adrian Xavier, and many more to be announced." Three-day passes to the festival are still available for $80.

Here's your first sneak peek at the Bumbershoot lineup this year, and so far it's a YAWN: "Sheryl Crow / Modest Mouse / Katy Perry / Michael Franti & Spearhead / De La Soul / Raphael Saadiq / Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / The Long Winters / Sly & Robbie and the Taxi Gang / World Party / MSTRKRFT / Roy Ayers / Common Market / UH HUH HER and many more…" UPDATE: A few more bands: "Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women / Eric Hutchinson / No Age / Matt & Kim / Dead Confederate / The Cave Singers / Swollen Members / Vieux Farka Touré / Lenka / Gang Gang Dance / Todd Snider / Holy F**k / DJ Spooky / Iglu & Hartly / Low vs Diamond / Sera Cahoone / Eleni Mandell / Carrie Rodriguez / The Honey Brothers / Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head / Extra Golden / Cordero / Forgive Durden / Hey Marseilles / Adrian Xavier, and much, much more to be announced."

Seattlest is in Austinist territory for the next few days, experiencing the glorious clusterfuck known as South by Southwest. After debating coming down for the techier Interactive segment, we narrowed our itinerary to just the music portion of this huge annual media-centric event. There's no Seattle parallel to this, so we'll be sharing our thoughts on the music, the scene, and of course the food we're experiencing. Not to worry, we'll try to keep things on the brief side.

Just a final reminder that tomorrow is SIFF's early bird deadline for passes and ticket packages to this year's festival (May 21-June 14). This is your last chance to get some major discounts, like a full series pass for $475 (normally $850), film tickets in groups of six for $45 (normally $57) or twenty for for $145 ($180), and a pass to the secret festival within the festival for only $33. These early bird discounts are only available to SIFF Supporters with an active membership, so it doesn't hurt to renew or sign up to take advantage of these deals.

Being Swanson's virgins, we didn't know about the annual Reindeer Festival.

How did this sneak up on us? The 2008 Winter Beer Festival starts today at 5 p.m. and goes 'til 10. Then it starts up again tomorrow from 1-10 p.m. 30 Washington breweries present their winter goods (here's the list) for your inspection; your admission includes a tasting cup and six 5-oz. beer samples.

Seattlest Jeremy already reviewed Next Stage's Nexus Project--"A dozen original plays by some of our most talented writers is definitely worth your time, and your money"--but we caught a 3-play sampler down at Bumbershoot and had to chime in. Theater at the festival can be hit-or-miss but this year Next Stage and the Unicycle Collective nailed it (both featuring the terrific Marya Sea Kaminski) with 10-minute bits that fit the setting perfectly. The Nexus Project wraps up September 4-7, so make tracks. Or buy tickets.

Antologia Polski (2:00 p.m.) brings you 50 years of Polish animation, and if you're honest with yourself, this is really the one time in your life you will have the chance to peek inside at SIFF Cinema (north side of McCaw Hall) and see a lot of Seattle's Polish population.

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.

Last weekend we went to see Off the Cuff, part of the Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation, and we've been mulling over what to say about it ever since.

          

The Tour de Fat bicycle festival, sponsored by New Belgium Brewery, took place at Gasworks Park today. Naturally we bicycled over to see what it was all about. On the way, two guys in a pickup pulled up next to us and rolled down the window. Uh oh, we thought. "Hey, nice bike!" they yelled. "And nice shirt!" (We were wearing the cream of our Hawaiian shirt collection.) They gave us a thumbs up. Then they roared off again. Tour de Fat was kinda like that.

That's really all we wanted to tell you. You got your Shakespeare, your Alice in Wonderland, your Wind in the Willows. It's all free, up in your Volunteer Park. We posted about it all here. The weather is supposed to great, so remember to pack lots of water, slather on the SPF, and maybe even wear a hat if you're catching an afternoon show. Two or three hours sitting still in the sun can really take it out of you.

Late summer festival/extravaganza Bumbershoot announced another hiphop headliner today. Ludacris, the one and only, has been added to the line-up! The other three rap-alicious big names thus far are Brother Ali, whose recent show at Neumos was nigh unto a spiritual experience for Seattlest, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, and Kid Sister out of Chicago. Unless, of course, you count Beck as a rapper. (We don't.)

Depending on how quickly we post this, there are two more showings of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Laugh Out Loud Festival's Program B today, at 1 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $20-$80. We don't know about you, but with all the sleet and snow this weekend, we've been craving some silly indoor festivities. This fills the bill to a T.

Hooray! The first batch of the Capitol Hill Block Party line-up for this summer has been announced, and we're thrilled to see what a truly fine list it is. Hot groups such as Vampire Weekend, Les Savy Fav, Kimya Dawson, and The Physics are already confirmed, with nary a six-hour-long Spoon set to be found. (Okay, so maybe last year's Spoon performance wasn't exactly six hours long, but it kinda felt like it.)

Last night, Bumbershoot announced the first set of acts slated for this year's festival. So far, there's a name or two that could draw us to Seattle Center this Labor Day weekend. Beck? Hell yes! A reunited Stone Temple Pilots? Not so much.