Pavement, James Blake, Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett and more have been announced as headliners for the 2024 edition of Seattle’s famed Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival held at Seattle Center. Kim Gordon, Freddie Gibbs, Aly & AJ, Cypress Hill and Marc Ribillet will also perform at the 51st edition of the festival, which is set to take place Aug. 31-Sept. 1.
The Labor Day weekend staple returned last year for its 50th anniversary with new production partners the New Rising Sun coalition, in the process bringing back a sense of local identity to the long-standing event.
Last year’s return “was a huge success,” says McCaw Hall GM Joe Paganelli, who also co-leads New Rising Sun. “We wanted to realign the festival with Seattle’s changing growth, purpose and needs. We dug deep and invested heavily in visual arts and trying to create a spirit of discovery.”
After taking three and a half years off due to COVID-19, the revived festival saw great success last year with Pacific Northwest bands like Sleater-Kinney, Band of Horses and Sunny Day Real Estate on the bill. This year, organizers dug even deeper into the festival’s roots and brought back talent booker Chris Porter, who previously booked Bumbershoot for 18 years. Paganelli initially reached out to Porter for advice on the 2024 lineup before asking the veteran booker to return.
“I didn’t see it coming but I was very touched and honored,” says Porter, who adds that New Rising Sun was “bringing [the festival] back in the very similar spirit of eclecticism and discovery as we had done in years past, so I wanted to pick up where we left off.”
With a lineup that also includes Badbadnotgood, Chvrches’ Lauren Mayberry, Carl Cox, Lee Fields, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, The Polyphonic Spree, Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird, Porter focused on two main components to book this year’s festival: discovery and value.
“It’s great if people go to see their favorite bands or artists perform, but hopefully they’re going to find their new favorite band there too,” says Porter. “The only thing I wanted to do a little differently than last year is maybe broaden it a little bit, address some world/global music sounds more and stretch the demographics.”
The full Bumbershoot lineup also includes Acid Tongue, All Them Witches, Angélica Garcia, Automatic, Balthvs, Black Belt Eagle Scout, Corridor, Dean Johnson, Disq, Emi Pop, Flesh Produce, George Clanton, Gold Chisme, Grynch, Helado Negro, Hurray for the Riff Raff, I Dont Know How But They Found Me, k.flay, Kassa Overall, King Buffalo, Kultur Shock, Ladytron, Lemon Boy, Linda from Work, Lol Tolhurst x Budgie, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Mercury Rev, Moor Mother, NAVVI, Neal Francis, Oh, Rose, Parisalexa, Pink Siifu, Pom Pom Squad, Psymon Spine, Pure Bathing Culture, R E P O S A D O, Rocket, Spoon Benders, Squirrel Flower, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Sux, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, TEKE::TEKE, The Divorce, The Groovy Nobody, Thee Sacred Souls, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, Tres Leches and Warren Dunes.
“We’re lucky to work in Seattle and doing this [festival] in this area. The community is very open-minded and open to discovering different sounds and different art,” says Porter. “It is really rewarding and I hope people like what we did this year.”
In addition to music, Bumbershoot will continue with its renowned visual arts component. The festival is reinforcing its commitment to the regional community with the return of fan favorites like the Fashion District, the Out of Sight exhibit and a film program while also introducing new programming including a unique partnership with NASA, a Bigfoot deepfake animation competition and more.
Additionally, the Century 21 District at the Pacific Science Center will feature a “Sculpture Parking Lot” featuring large-scale contemporary sculpture. “Songs for Space,” in partnership with NASA, will project James Webb Space Telescope images in the PACCAR IMAX theater alongside a range of different vocal groups, including gospel, opera and Gregorian chant.
The Recess District will present the art of performance with rollerskating, gymnastics, breakdancing, double-dutch jump rope and cheerleading as well as a skateboard competition and a wrestling showcase called Bumbermania!
New Rising Sun’s commitment to Bumbershoot is only in its second year, and Paganelli says growing the festival’s presence is a priority going forward. “We’re going to supercharge and expand the Bumbershoot brand with new and different opportunities throughout the year, which includes a brick-and-mortar venue that will harken back to Andy Warhol’s Factory,” he says. “Then there will be additional programming verticals coming out that we’re not prepared just yet to release but are in the planning process already.”
Tickets for the 2024 Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival are on sale now. Head here to check out the full lineup along with the festival’s culinary and visual arts programming.
