Sleater-Kinney, Sunny Day Real Estate, ZHU, and more headline Seattle’s Bumbershoot Festival — Today, the festival announces its 50th-anniversary celebration lineup, revealing new musical acts slated to perform and more.
Bumbershoot, Seattle’s Arts & Music Festival, has announced the highly-anticipated daily lineups and reveals new musical acts joining in celebrating the festival’s 50th anniversary at the Seattle Center this September 2 and 3.
Producers have also shared details about the successful launch of their Workforce Development Program, supporting future generations of music festival producers and industry experts.
Saturday kicks off the festival with performances from Olympia’s Sleater-Kinney featuring Carrie Brownstein of “Portlandia” fame, an electronic set from world-known producer ZHU, explosive punk and alt-rock hits from AFI, Grammy Award Nominee Brittany Howard, and Seattle hometown heroes Sunny Day Real Estate. Other Saturday performances include Durand Jones, Matt and Kim, Ride, Jacob Banks, and more.
Sunday will offer performances from alt-rock sweethearts The Revivalists, post-hardcore band Jawbreaker, legendary U.K. producer Fatboy Slim, synth alt-pop from Phantogram, and Seattle’s Band of Horses. Additional Sunday acts include Bomba Estereo, Uncle Waffles, A-Trak, Valerie June, and more.
Bumbershoot is also excited to announce new additions to the already-stacked lineup, including feminist performance art rockers Pussy Riot, iconic producer Maya Jane Coles, indie-rock quartet Shannon and The Clams, and Seattle’s TV Star.
The reimagined Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival is a partnership between the non-profit organization Third Stone and festival producer New Rising Sun. Third Stone launched the tuition-free Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program in April in collaboration with The UC Theatre’s Concert Career Pathways Program (CCP-X).
This tuition-free, hands-on training program removes the barriers to entry into the live music business for young people 17 – 25 years old from historically marginalized communities, supporting the next generation of music industry professionals to lay the groundwork for a more equitable and inclusive music industry. The six-month program focuses on teaching the behind-the-scenes aspects of concert promotion and production, combined with job-shadowing and paid internships, and culminating with jobs at the Bumbershoot Festival Labor Day weekend.
For the inaugural Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program, 16 participants began a series of workshops, speaker series, and shadow shifts in partnership with music industry professionals and organizations in Third Stone’s Professional Partner Network.
That includes organizations like legendary Seattle venues The Crocodile and The Triple Door, as well as TeenTix, and learning marketable skills like event production, sound engineering marketing, talent buying, event budgeting, and more. Utilizing a “festival-as-classroom” philosophy, Third Stone’s vision for success is that the program’s alumni will manage the festival in ten years.
Bumbershoot 2023 Full Daily Lineup:
Saturday, September 2
- Sleater-Kinney
- ZHU
- AFI
- Brittany Howard
- Sunny Day Real Estate
- Durand Jones
- Matt and Kim
- Maya Jane Coles
- Ride
- Jacob Banks
- Major League DJz
- DOMi & JD Beck
- The Dip
- Puddles Pity Party
- Anabel Englund
- Destroy Boys
- Hunx and his Punx
- Thunderpussy
- Reignwolf
- Screaming Females
- Morgan and the Organ Donors
- Sweet Water
- Chong the Nomad
- Slift
- Girl Trouble
- Radioactivity
- Dave B.
- Chimurenga Renaissance
- Spirit Award
- Pressha
- Long Dark Moon
- Breaks and Swells
- Wimps
- Scarves
Sunday, September 3
- The Revivalists
- Jawbreaker
- Fatboy Slim
- Phantogram
- Band of Horses
- Descendents
- Bomba Estereo
- Uncle Waffles
- A-Trak
- Valerie June
- Pussy Riot
- Benny the Butcher
- The Rebirth Brass Band
- Shannon and the Clams
- Temples
- Dandy Warhols
- Algernon Cadwallader
- Sol
- Gustaf
- Trinix
- Debby Friday
- True Loves
- Modernlove.
- The Black Tones
- King Youngblood
- Massy Ferguson
- Cassandra Lewis
- Them
- Simone BG
- Fouad Masoud
- Black Ends
- TV Star
- Pink Boa
- Beverly Crusher
In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Bumbershoot and Amazon offer prices 50 percent lower than when the event was last held in 2019 to create an opportunity for more Pacific Northwest communities to enjoy the festival.
Together with Third Stone, Amazon is supporting the distribution of 5,000 free tickets directly to non-profits and communities that have been underserved. A portion of ticket proceeds will go towards the Bumbershoot Workforce Development Program.