Whether you’re the kind of person who loves to see live music or prefers to listen to tunes in the comfort of your own home, no Seattleite can ignore the city’s biggest music festival, Bumbershoot, which brings thousands of people to Seattle Center every Labor Day weekend (this year September 4 to 6) for three straight days of jam-packed shows.
Yesterday the festival, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, announced the official lineup for the weekend, including headliners like Bob Dylan, Weezer and Mary J. Blige, and other mainstage names like Neko Case, The Decembrists, Hole, Rise Against, J. Cole and one more unannounced special guest. Take a look at the full lineup here, and keep checking back because more names will be released as the festival inches closer.
Tickets to Bumbershoot are now on sale, and are going for a whopping $40 a day (if you buy in advance, $50 if you buy at the gate), which begs the question, how much is seeing your favorite music live worth to you? (I remember way back when, when tickets to Bumbershoot were just $45 for the whole weekend–and as a high school kid, I thought that was expensive!)
But for those who don’t want to dole out 40 clams a pop, and given the current economic downturn, the festival will also be offering an aptly named “economy” package, which will get you into Bumbershoot for $22 a day ($30 at the gate) and gives you access to six musical stages, three comedy stages and a number of other venues but–and here’s the kicker–does not include any mainstage performances at Memorial Stadium (a fine option if you’re not in it for the headliners). Check out other packages here. But for the most frugal of music lovers, there’s always one more option for penny-pinching your way into Bumber fun: volunteering!