Bumbershoot Music & Art Festival takes place every Labor Day weekend in the heart of the city on the 74-acre Seattle Center campus. Discount advance tickets and multi-day passes go on sale well in advance. The price for tickets goes up the closer we get to the festival dates. So the sooner you purchase your pass, the more you will save.
Each year, thousands of people from across the country flock to Seattle Center to attend this acclaimed festival, which has become one of the biggest and most-loved contemporary festivals in North America, yet maintains its Northwest spirit and innovative roots.
About Bumbershoot
The name Bumbershoot (meaning “an umbrella”) was chosen both as a nod to the Emerald city’s most famous weather pattern (rain!), as well as a symbol of the overarching mission of this festival: to be an umbrella for all of the arts.
From the beginning, Bumbershoot was a multi-disciplinary arts festival showcasing the best of comedy, dance, film, literary arts, music, performing arts, theatre, and visual arts.
The Bumbershoot Festival is marked by a special blend of world and nationally renowned talent, local artistry, and spectacle. The programming at Bumbershoot strives to be a contemporary microcosm of what is current across all disciplines and genres within those art forms, giving our audience opportunities few other festivals around the world offer.
Now approaching half a century since it’s inception in 1971, Bumbershoot is one of Seattle’s largest cultural touchstones. Spanning the Seattle Center grounds, a campus originally created for the 1962 “Century 21” World’s Fair, Bumbershoot has continued the legacy of legacy of Century 21, celebrating innovation and the search for what’s next.
Bumbershoot 1973 photo from Seattle Municipal Archives (CC2)
Bumbershoot tickets
Single day, general admission tickets for Bumbershoot start at $99 and increase the closer we get to Labor Day Weekend.
Be the first to know about ticket discounts, promotions, and festival information by visiting their website: https://www.bumbershoot.com/.
How to get discount Bumbershoot tickets
Buy tickets in advance. Prices go up in mid-summer, so the earlier you buy, the cheaper your ticket will be.
- Single day General Admission tickets are $99, advance purchase.
- 2-day and 3-day GA tickets are $$165 and $220, advance purchase.
- VIP and Emerald passes are $175-$795, advance purchase.
American Express Card Members can purchase advance passes at a reduced rate.
Sign up to volunteer. Sign up to volunteer on the Bumbershoot website (usually before August). Volunteers can experience Bumbershoot behind the scenes, earn an exclusive volunteer t-shirt and can also earn festival passes. For more information, visit https://bumbershoot.com/volunteer/
The video below, Airstream Leave it Beautiful- Bumbershoot 2016 from The Public Works on Vimeo will give you a sense of Bumbershoot.
