Overview
Bumbershoot '76
Official Poster Artwork by Jacob Lawrence
In 1976, Bumbershoot rode the wave of America’s Bicentennial, and the celebratory mood was unmistakable.
The festival expanded across two full weekends, including, for the first time, Labor Day weekend, a scheduling shift that would eventually become a defining anchor of the event. The move cemented Bumbershoot as both a civic celebration and a holiday tradition.
Seattle historian Paul Dorpat notes several of the standout attractions that year:
“Attractions include a young jazz singer named Diane Schuur… San Francisco’s Magic Theatre presents ‘Angel City,’ written and directed by a member of the company, Sam Shepard…”
— Paul Dorpat, Bumbershoot’s Formative Years (1971–1979), HistoryLink.org
That “young jazz singer” was Diane Schuur, who would soon rise to international acclaim and multiple Grammy Awards. And the playwright behind Angel City was Sam Shepard, long before his Hollywood acting career made him widely known.
These bookings reflected what Bumbershoot had become by the mid-1970s: a place where emerging talent, national experimentation, and civic participation intersected.
The programming remained defiantly cross-disciplinary, music, theater, visual art, community showcases, all accessible, often affordable, and intentionally open to the public. The emphasis was less on exclusivity and more on participation. The festival’s identity wasn’t built around a single genre or demographic...it was built around inclusion.
By 1976, Bumbershoot had fully embraced its role as Seattle’s big-tent cultural gathering, experimental yet welcoming, ambitious yet civic-minded, rooted in place yet outward-looking.
And with Labor Day now part of its footprint, the rhythm of the festival began to feel permanent.
Source & Credit
Portions of this history are quoted and adapted from: Paul Dorpat, “Bumbershoot’s Formative Years (1971–1979),” HistoryLink.org Essay 10027, posted September 1, 1999.
Available at: https://www.historylink.org/File/10027
