Seafair 2010 Indian Days Pow Wow, Seattle, WA photo by Joe Mabel (CC3)
Many people think that Seattle’s Seafair summer festival is the hydroplane races on Lake Washington with the Blue Angels flying overhead during Seafair Weekend in August.
Far from it.
Seafair is a summer-long festival from June through August, with several signature events and many more smaller community events celebrated throughout King County. Some of these community events have been going on since before Seafair was started in 1950.
Others are quite new; perhaps re-envisioned from an older festival and adapted as the local community has changed. We’re nothing, if not pioneers in most things we do in the Pacific Northwest. For historical information and more details, see Seafair Seattle explained.
Seafair Signature Events
Seafair signature events, which might be considered the heart of Seattle’s summer festival, include several key events: (1) The Seafair Pirates Landing on Alki Beach–considered by many to be the official Seafair kickoff for the summer-long festival, (2) the Milk Carton Derby on Green Lake, (3) the Seafair Triathlon, (4) the Torchlight Parade, preceded by the Torchlight Run, and (5) the 3-day Seafair Weekend festival complete with hydroplane races, Blue Angels performance, air show, wakeboard event, pit tours, food and vendor booths, and often with plenty of sun.
If Seafair signature events are the heart of Seattle’s favorite summer festival, then the Seafair sanctioned community events are the soul.
These neighborhood events are volunteer run from conception and promotion to implementation and cleanup. The primary objective is community and civic pride, all very evident in these fun-filled fairs, festivals, and parades.
Below is the current list of Seafair sanctioned events, listed in order by date of occurence. In parentheses, we’ve noted the event’s inception date as defined on their website.
Seafair Sanctioned Community Events
Seafair Kla Ha Ya Days 2006 in Snohomish WA photo by Joe Mabel (CC3)
2017 Seafair sanctioned community events in July
July 8: Seattle Summer Music Games.
July 8: Wallingford Family Parade (1950).
July 8-9: Ballard Seafood Fest (1974).
July 8-9: Mercer Island Summer Celebration.
July 12-16: Kla Ha Ya Days Festival (1913).
July 14-15: Kent Cornucopia Days.
July 14-16: Indian Days Pow Wow (1985).
July 14-16: Kirkland Uncorked.
July 15-16: Covington Days Festival (1986).
July 15-16: Dragon Fest.
July 15-16: Kent Cornucopia Days (1972).
July 15-16: Seattle Bon Odori (1933).
July 19-23: White Center Jubilee Days (1923).
July 21-23: Renton River Days (1986).
July 22: West Seattle Grand Parade (1935).
July 23: Chinatown Seafair Parade.
July 26: Greenwood Seafair Parade (1951).
July 28-30: Tour de Terrace (1993).
July 30: Pista Sa Nayon (1990).
Dolls Drill Team 2008 Chinatown Seafair Parade, Seattle photo by Joe Mabel (CC3)
2017 Seafair sanctioned community events in August
August 4-6: Lake City Salmon Fest.
August 4-6: Magnolia Summerfest & Seafair Parade.
August 5: Lake City Pioneer Days Parade (1941).
August 5-6: UmojaFest African American Heritage Festival (1997).
August 5-6: The Museum of Flight’s Jet Blast Bash (2015).
August 11-13: Kirkland Summerfest (2011).
August 12: Delridge Day (2006).
August 12-13: Rainier Valley Culture Fest Weekend (2008).
August 19-20: Vikings Day.
