Thank you for stopping by and your continued interest in Bumbershoot. Your dedication to the festival is what has kept One Reel engaged for nearly 50 years and we appreciate your commitment. Even when it is critical of our organization or expressing your displeasure, we listen. More often than not, your concerns echo our own.
It’s been a tumultuous year for everyone and Bumbershoot 2020 was a casualty of the pandemic that we continue to adapt our lives to accommodate. Things may never return to what was once, but we are confident that Bumbershoot will return to entertain and amaze Seattle on Labor Day weekend, for decades to come.
The silver lining is that have had a great deal of time to immerse ourselves into every aspect of Bumbershoot and we had lots of help in identifying the good, the bad and the ugly.
One Reel is poised to spring into action when called upon to usher in a new era for Seattle’s champion arts & musical festival. And while the festival can never revert back to our idealized memory of the best Bumbershoot ever…. or yours,…it doesn’t mean it can’t evolve into something new. It’s simple really. For Bumbershoot to live up to its past success, it simply needs to embraces the ideals that made it into a spectacle of wonder and excitement for generations of Seattle residents and visitors.
The very best aspects of Bumbershoot have and always will be steeped in the contributions of our community and in the festival’s commitment to providing quality, inclusive, multi-generational programming that delivers value, wonder and enough WTF moments to entertain us all.
As long as Bumbershoot remains dedicated to the audience’s journey, it will retain what we love most about it. A place you can count on discovering something altogether new, even when you realize it’s not. That mash-up between today and yesterday is the common refrain you hear in everyone’s explanation of why (insert YOUR favorite Bumbershoot year, here) was the best Bumbershoot year, ever.
What is ONE REEL?
One Reel is a 501c3 organization dedicated to fueling civic pride through signature experiences that foster growth & development of community and the arts. One Reel has been involved with Bumbershoot since 1972 and has served as the producer of the festival for the lion’s share of its successful history.
In addition to our support of Bumbershoot, we focus on producing amazing events for the community throughout the year, including the city-wide event, Pianos In The Parks, and educational programming, as reflected in the arts-focused Career Day series (including Music, Film Literary Arts, & Visual Arts) we helped to launch in 2012 to support the aspirations of young adults at the cusp of their professional careers and ARTSAVESME, a program that celebrates the transformative power of art and the positive impact of artists in the community.
Each year, One Reel commissions new works and presents unique opportunities that employ nearly a thousand local artists, performers, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, poets, puppeteers, designers, and more to showcase their work to audiences around the Puget Sound.
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BUMBERSHOOT
POSTER GALLERY
Relive your Bumbershoot experiences through the visual artistry of each locally-designed Bumbershoot festival poster.
ESTABLISHED 1971*
*Launched as Festival ‘71. Rechristened as Bumbershoot in 1973. For more information on the history of Seattle’s enduring arts and music festival, go to: HISTORYLINK