Photo: Jim Bennett
The Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival 2026 recently concluded two days of incredible music, art, and culture at the famous Seattle Center in Seattle, Washington. Packed with big-name musical acts like Turnstile, Death Cab for Cutie, Japanese Breakfast, and Orville Peck, the festival has another component that makes this yearly event so special: its visual arts programming.
My Modern Met previewed Bumbershoot 2026 programming in the spring, and now that it’s past, we wanted to check in on how it all went. We spoke to five of the programs: Fashion Runway, Skate Like a Girl, BUMBERMANIA!, Cat Circus, and Magic Dome. Each is delightfully different, but they all had one thing in common: they brought the festival community together in unexpected ways.
Over the course of a weekend, attendees could cheer on pro-wrestling, see kittens play piano, and watch models rock the runway at the Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Show—and that’s just some of what happened during the visual arts programming. Scroll down to read My Modern Met’s exclusive interview with the folks who helped make Bumbershoot 2026 unforgettable.
The Bumbershoot Arts and Music Festival 2026 included a visual arts programming component that brought the festival community together in creative and unexpected ways. My Modern Met spoke with five programs about how it all went.
Fashion Runway
From program leads Desi Caswell and Anika Zebron.
What is the origin story for this program? How did it show up at Bumbershoot 2027?
We were invited to pilot the Fashion District in 2022, as part of the reinvigorated Visual Arts program at Bumbershoot under New Rising Sun & Third Stone.
We (Desi & Anika) had met while working with local apparel and footwear label Guillermo Bravo, so we were excited to do more with Seattle’s incredibly vibrant fashion community. It’s been an honor and so inspiring for us to witness the vision, stories, and hard work creatives have dedicated each year to bring their magic to the fashion district, from the runway to the marketplace.
What unique elements of it add to the overall Bumbershoot programming?
All of our designers, makers, and curators are PNW-based, from diverse backgrounds and experiences. We love that the Fashion District feels very “Seattle,” while still being a place for festival-goers to discover something new and meaningful—a uniquely constructed garment, handcrafted jewelry, an amazing vintage find, a rad hairstyle, the perfect scent, and most importantly, the many individual and cultural stories each creative has to share.
The Fashion District is a great place to take a detour between concerts, catch a runway show that will capture your imagination and shop for a favorite statement piece, all in one place. We like to say you’ll leave the Fashion District feeling transformed, adding your own creative energy to Bumbershoot.
Within the program, what was one of the most memorable parts of this year’s festival?
This year, the materials that runway designers created and used in their collections really stood out: including 3D-printed materials, biopolymers, hand-designed and dyed fabrics, and hand-crafted jewelry and embellishments.
No two runway shows were the same, and all were unique in their construction and style. Themes included dreams, futurism, living art, and resistance. From the collections to the choreography to the messaging, this year’s shows were unapologetic celebrations and powerful statements that each team should be immensely proud of.
What, within the program, got the crowd the most excited?
The Vancouver Indigenous Fashion Week Show is always a high point—VIFW was back for a third year with an incredible group show and cultural celebration. VIFW hosts many Indigenous fashion shows yearly and worldwide; we are deeply honored to have them on the Fashion District stage.
New Affection brought out everyone’s self-celebration and dance. Not only was the badass collection an expression of self love and community, it featured a track you couldn't help but move to.
We love closing our daily programming with music—this year we had local artist and band Nobi And The Force, who brought the GOODS. Their dynamic seven-piece band spread out on our unique catwalk stage and delivered two nights of lyrical and instrumental magic, even despite Seattle rain on Day 1!
In our Merchant Marketplace, two-thirds of our merchants were returning Fashion District community—and it was a stellar year of sales! Our merchants really go all out to create fun, interactive, and welcoming booths featuring their goods and services. It takes a lot of work and they bring the marketplace to life. We highly value the familiar faces and the show of local support. Thank you to all!
Hannah Concannon of Dress Up Box also created our first fit check photo booth in the Fashion District, which was the perfect touch and way to show off the FD’s finest and most fabulous!
Photo: Christine Mitchell
Skate Like a Girl
What is the origin story for this program? How did it show up at Bumbershoot 2027?
Skate Like a Girl is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting confidence, leadership, and social justice through skateboarding. This was our third year performing at Bumbershoot, and our demo brings together some of the most talented women, queer, and/or trans skaters in the Pacific Northwest to showcase their skills and show that skateboarding is for everyone!
What unique elements of it add to the overall Bumbershoot programming?
Our program is unique because it is a truly intergenerational performance, with skaters ranging from as young as 8 years old all the way up to their 40s. We get to teach the audience a little bit about skateboarding and different tricks while putting on an engaging, high-energy performance. Representation is also really important as skateboarding has historically been a very male-dominated sport, so it’s powerful to see women, queer, and trans skaters taking up space and showing off their skills. We want people in the audience to see themselves represented and know that skateboarding is for them, too. And, of course, we’re fun to watch!
Within the program, what was one of the most memorable parts of this year’s festival?
For sure watching the youth perform with so much confidence and absolutely wow the crowd. It’s been amazing to see these young people grow into such incredible skaters and people, both inside and outside of the skatepark. I love that they were so excited to represent Skate Like a Girl at Bumbershoot and show everyone all of the hard work they’ve put in. Seeing them skate the ramp in front of such a big crowd and really own the moment was incredibly special.
What, within the program, got the crowd the most excited?
The crowd got really excited whenever we had multiple people skating the ramp at once. We had a few moments with doubles and triples dropping in and skating together, which really brought the energy up. At one point, we even had six people dropping in at once! Those moments were especially fun because you could really feel the crowd getting more and more excited as the demo built up.
Photo: Jim Bennett
Photo: Jim Bennett
BUMBERMANIA! (SOS Pro Wrestling)
What is the origin story for this program? How did it show up at Bumbershoot 2027?
SOS Pro Wrestling has curated the wrestling for Bumbershoot for the last four years, showcasing the weird, wonderful, and talented wrestlers of the PNW. At these shows you’ll see talent that's been wrestling for 20+ years alongside students that are debuting under the Space Needle!
What unique elements of it add to the overall Bumbershoot programming?
Where else are you going to see Seattle icons Heart hit the iconic Hart Attack tag team maneuver? We had Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alavarez come out of retirement to wrestle in front of his kids. And got to see the next generation of PNW stars in Amira become the Bumbermania champion!
Within the program, what was one of the most memorable parts of this year’s festival?
Seeing Jimothy, played by local referee Aubrey Edwards (AEW), run in as a referee and count the pin for our Trash Man vs Oscar the Grouch match was exhilarating!
What, within the program, got the crowd the most excited?
Pro Wrestling is all about the unexpected, we had soo many people send us clips of wrestlers duking it out in the Seattle Center fountain. We also held our very first kids’ wrestler entrance contest, where our youngest fans got to take center stage and get the crowd hyped!
Cat Circus
What is the origin story for this program? How did it show up at Bumbershoot 2027?
The first year, I was involved with Bumbershoot team members Marcos and Greg in planning the Cat Circus stage design, which Marcos built. Motley Zoo provided the cats and kittens and a slew of volunteers to entertain the public on what is ultimately a huge, interactive cat toy. We also use this opportunity to educate the public about the importance of animal rescue, adoption, and spay and neuter. The Cat Circus proved to be wildly successful with lines of people 100 deep continually all weekend long, all three past years!
What unique elements of it add to the overall Bumbershoot programming?
Each year, we add a new surprise “attraction” to our set…what will it be??? This year, the Cat Circus dome was in a new location with more room for line management and tree shade for guests. The kitties were onstage “performing” (it’s really just the public enticing them with cat toys) on both days of the festival.
Within the program, what was one of the most memorable parts of this year’s festival?
Most memorable this year was the incredible location and feeling a part of the dome experience, which changed a bit this year to be more family-friendly, I think. Also, one of the big bands came through—Die Spitz.
What, within the program, got the crowd the most excited?
People love seeing the kitties being enticed to play the piano, look in the fun house mirror, walk the “tightrope” and hang out in the cannon!
Magic Dome
From Taylor Kyle The American Mystifier.
What is the origin story for this program? How did it show up at Bumbershoot 2027?
The origin of my act starts with a keen desire to awaken the love of magic in others just like it was awakened in me. The love of magic was passed on to me when I was in high school by a friend named John. It was the feeling that magic gave me that opened that door. To me, magic is not a trick, it’s a feeling. This is why people describe things as magical. It’s with this thought I perform. I don't focus on the trick, I focus on feelings it can create and the lessons it can teach. It can connect people, get them laughing, open their mind to new possibilities, and more than anything make them dream of what it might be like to do the impossible. This is because great magic breaks our expectations of reality, shows us that there is more than one way to look at the world, and most of all it brings us together in wonder at this mysterious thing we call life that we all share. Sometimes it’s the mystery itself that is beautiful.
What unique elements of it add to the overall Bumbershoot programming?
Bumbershoot helped me awaken this love of magic in others by adding some magic of their own. They committed to sharing magic by providing a sacred place for people to come spend time together and really awaken the feelings that make magic what it is. This space was the Magic Dome. In this space I was able to not only connect with people in a close-up and intimate way but it allowed them to let go of the outside world and remember that true magic isn’t a trick, it is a feeling we share. Because of this we were able to create a few truly fun moments during my shows.
What, within the program, got the crowd the most excited?
One of the crowd favorites was the selection of a magical assistant. During the show I would select one person who I would give magical powers to help in the show. The joke was that before I could let them loose in the world with magic I would have to put them through a test to ensure they would use their powers of magic for good and not evil. They would have an option to choose one out of five potential futures each of which they could not see until the selection was made. This selection would predict their future with 100% certainty. Without fail they would somehow pick the only future that was magician’s assistant. This moment not only got people laughing but helped them get lost in the story, not the trick.
In addition to the dome the Bumbershoot team also had me carry this on even outside the dome. I was asked to go from group to group and share the feeling of magic throughout the event. With each of the group some of the favorites were the mind reading and mental connection demonstration. In the mental connection demonstration I would take two people and have them face each other and when I would touch one person the other person would feel it. This effect not only feels like real magic but helps people feel closer together.
