Bumbershoot is back!

After being on hiatus since 2019, Seattle’s annual music and arts festival, Bumbershoot, is back.

A new group of organizers, New Rising Sun, recently announced a plan to restore the event for its 50th anniversary, making Bumbershoot one of the oldest recurring festivals in the United States.

Greg Lundgren, co-founder and creative director of New Rising Sun, said this year’s festival will highlight arts in our region in a unique way.

“What you can see this year that's different is we are creating a fashion district, which will have everything from runway shows, to drag makeup artists, to celebrating emerging designers, and to tattoo to nail art, and having this area that focuses on how we present ourselves and fashion and beauty and tattoos. I think that's a part of the festival that really hasn't ever existed.”

He pointed out that people coming to the festival may arrive dressed one way, and after a visit to the fashion district, they may go home with a whole new look. But the fashion district won’t be the only new addition to Bumbershoot.

“You're going to have modern dancers woven through the crowd,” Lundgren said. “You're going to have sculpture woven through the crowd, you're going to have remote control sculpture moving through the audience. And instead of people having to go find it, [art] is really built into the fabric of the festival.”

This year Bumbershoot will add a recess district, with a focus on performance art and movement. It features SOS Pro Wrestling from Tacoma and skaters from Seattle’s Roll Around Seatown.

There will be focus on culinary arts, that highlights food and chefs from local restaurants, and places where arts intersect with technology.

“I think that what I really what makes me the most excited is, recognizing that our community is a lot richer and broader and more diverse than what people really often give it credit for,” Lundgren said. “I started to look at Bumbershoot is something more than a festival, but as an opportunity to really change the course of the city, a way of really celebrating artists, and a way of breaking stereotypes about what a festival can be, or what an artist is.”

Bumbershoot will be at the Seattle Center, Sept. 2-3

Information on lineups and programs will be announced in the coming weeks.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly declared Bumbershoot the oldest recurring festival in the United States.