Overview
Bumbershoot '86
Artwork by Joe Max Emminger, a Seattle painter whose painting was commissioned for Bumbershoot through the City of Seattle's 1% for Art Program. The poster was designed by Walters Design Associates.
Following the turbulence of the previous year’s governance battle, Bumbershoot returned in 1986 with renewed focus.
With One Reel reinstated as producer after the widely debated “Bumberwars,” the festival shifted its attention back to what it had always done best: programming an expansive mix of music, theater, dance, film, and performance art across Seattle Center.
The reaffirmed production partnership reinforced Bumbershoot’s original mission, a festival that balanced national headliners with experimental work, emerging artists, and deeply local creative communities. That wide programming umbrella had been at the heart of the conflict the year before, and its preservation shaped the festival’s direction moving forward.
Rather than narrowing its scope after the controversy, the festival doubled down on its defining strength: abundance. Audiences could move from major concerts to avant-garde theater, from contemporary dance to participatory art installations, often within the same afternoon.
In the wake of the Bumberwars, Bumbershoot emerged with its creative philosophy intact. The debate had ultimately reinforced what made the festival unique: a big-tent approach to art that welcomed both spectacle and experimentation under the same umbrella.
Bumbershoot 1986's line up included: Andrei Coderescu, Belinda Carlisle, Delbert McClinton, Elvin Bishop, Fats Domino, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Gina Wenkos, Grand Kabuki Theatre, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lee Hooker, Kid Creole, Los Lobos, Louis Edrich, Queen Ida & Bon Temps Zydeco, Randy Newman, Robert Cray, Sandra Bernhard, Seattle Symphony, Smokey Robinson, Susan Jeffers, The Winans
