Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Arts & Music Festival has revealed the 2023 music lineup featuring luminaries from around the globe, Pacific Northwest heroes and the best of emerging music. The 50th annual installment of Bumbershoot will take place September 2nd – 3rd at the iconic Seattle Center campus, boasting a previously announced eclectic arts program and now an equally varied musical lineup that includes indie rock, punk, soul, folk, dance and more. In addition, festival producers New Rising Sun, alongside partner/non-profit arts and education organization Third Stone, have launched the tuition-free Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program, designed to create a pipeline to support the next generation of music industry professionals and lay the groundwork for a more equitable and inclusive music scene.
Returning to the Bumbershoot stage this year are some of the region’s finest artists, including Olympia’s indie/punk trailblazers SLEATER-KINNEY, Seattle’s very own emo pioneers SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE and the Grammy-nominated BAND OF HORSES. Other nationally recognized acts include Grammy-winner BRITTANY HOWARD, hardcore-punk hitmakers AFI, alt-rockers THE REVIVALISTS, post-punk innovators JAWBREAKER, jazz phenoms DOMi & JD BECK, superstar electronic artist ZHU, Libera Award-nominated soul artist DURAND JONES, and world-renowned U.K. DJ and producer, FATBOY SLIM. This will be Fatboy Slim’s first Seattle show in nearly 25 years. Additionally, Bumbershoot continues to spotlight Pacific Northwest-based artists on the local and national level such as electronic artist CHONG THE NOMAD, ‘70s inspired female-rock quartet THUNDERPUSSY, brother & sister duo THE BLACK TONES, rock artist REIGNWOLF, plus MORGAN AND THE ORGAN DONORS featuring TOBI VAIL of Bikini Kill, University of Washington Jazz/pop exports The Dip and more to be announced in the coming weeks.
The festival footprint will boast multiple music stages where fans can catch their favorite bands and experience the incredible arts programming. Bumbershoot will utilize spaces throughout the Seattle Center complex including Fisher Pavilion for Out of Sight, The Art Not Terminal for the Bumbershoot 50th Anniversary Retrospective and so much more. As part of Bumbershoot’s Workforce Development Program, Climate Pledge Arena will host students on a production tour of the arena giving future production and tour managers a live look at one of the busiest music venues in the world. Further details to be announced at a later date.
To usher in this new era, Third Stone, the non profit arm of Bumbershoot, is proudly delivering on its promise to bring opportunity and remove barriers of entry into the live music business for marginalized communities of the Pacific Northwest. Third Stone has successfully launched their Workforce Development Program which will offer young adults aged 17-25 the opportunity to learn critical business skills within the festival and live music setting. In partnership with The UC Theatre’s Concert Career Pathways (CCP) program, this six-month tuition-free, hands-on education experience and paid internship begins in April 2023 and will culminate in the opportunity to work on the grounds at the festival.
We are thrilled to partner with The UC Theatre’s Concert Career Pathways to guide our workforce development program. Together, we will expand the pipeline and close the gap that addresses the barriers of entry into a career in the live music industry here in Seattle.” Miles continues, “When you buy a ticket to Bumbershoot, or make a donation to Third Stone, you are supporting more than just the music and arts festival on Labor Day weekend. We believe that in 10 years, Bumbershoot will be staffed and run by the program graduates. This is how we and other institutions activate social change and how Bumbershoot becomes much more than a music festival.
James Miles – Third Stone’s Executive Director
Using a “festival as classroom” philosophy, inspired by and collaborating with, Concert Career Pathways Remote Extension Program (CCP-X) from The UC Theatre in Berkeley, CA and other community partners like Seattle Children’s Theatre, Friends of the Waterfront, The Vera Project, TeenTix, Climate Pledge Arena and more, Third Stone’s goal is that at least 80% of the graduates will find employment after completing the Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program.
