Washington State is awash with nature, and visitors often arrive here for islands, pastures and peaks. But many also visit the state each year to engage in the varied and vivid festival scene, with a number of exciting and unique events for all ages and interests.
Bumbershoot is Seattle’s premier arts and music festival and takes place over Labor Day weekend. With almost fifty years of history, it’s an artistic and engaging plethora of music, film, comedy, theatre, dance, visual arts and more. The event focuses on inclusivity and accessibility and aims to deliver a great range of program to all comers. It’s a diverse and bohemian event with a great program of contemporary attractions, and delivers many big names and upcoming artists alongside independent, unusual and unique arts. Previous performers here include Flying Lotus, The Weeknd, Cake, Wu-Tang Clan and Elvis Costello.
Seattle International Film Festival is one of the biggest film festivals in the USA, with a brimming program lasting over three weeks. The event promises to deliver a diverse and innovative program of unique, unusual, challenging and interesting films from every corner of the globe, while the atmosphere encourages and promotes bringing people together for discussion and dissection. The event includes screenings, discussions, awards and world premieres - films from the likes of Riley Scott and Gus Van Sant have previously been screened here for the very first time.
Port Townsend’s Victorian Heritage Festival is an anarchic and archaic look at the old-world heritage of the USA and Washington state. It features an antique bicycle race, pub crawls, fencing demonstrations, a themed ball, formal teas, gun firing, bus tours, bare-knuckle boxing and loads more. What Dickens saw then, you can see now. There are also panels, conversations, re-enactments, exhibitions and tours. This is an ideal event for any with an interest in history and heritage, and is something truly unique.
Food festivals throughout the state offer a load of scrumptious and succulent treats to get you drooling, including plenty of street food and other more formal affairs. Some of these food events focus on things as wild and wonderful as lentils, raspberries, beer and more.
But it’s not just food – there are also festivals dedicated to rodeos, flowers, boats, sport, cultures, arts, crafts and kites. Washington state is not just Evergreen – it’s ever fun, ever exciting and it’s for everyone. Come and join the party!