Overview
Bumbershoot '91
Official Poster Artwork by Ken Turner & Frank Zepponi
In 1991, Bumbershoot entered its third decade with the same expansive spirit that had defined it since its earliest years.
Produced by One Reel, the festival continued to transform Seattle Center each Labor Day weekend into a sprawling cultural campus, one where music, dance, theater, film, literary arts, and visual art unfolded simultaneously across multiple stages and venues.
What made Bumbershoot distinctive at this point in its history was its scale combined with its openness. Unlike single-genre festivals, Bumbershoot encouraged audiences to wander freely between experiences: from outdoor concerts to experimental theater, from film screenings to contemporary dance, from literary readings to craft and visual art exhibitions.
The early 1990s were also a time when Seattle’s cultural influence began to grow nationally. Independent music and art scenes across the city were gaining wider recognition, and Bumbershoot served as one of the largest public platforms where Northwest artists could appear alongside national performers.
Twenty years after Festival ’71, Bumbershoot remained true to its founding idea: a big cultural umbrella where audiences could encounter something unexpected at every turn.
Bumbershoot 1991's line up included: Allen Ginsberg, Andy Narell/David Rudder, B.B. King, Batacumbele, Booker T & The MG’s, Branford Marsalis, Buddy Guy, Burning Spear, Carla Thomas & Eddie Floyd, Charlie Musselwhite Band, Chris Isaak, Clarence Clemons, Crowded House, Dan Reed Network, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Duane Eddy, Elayne Boosler, Ernesto Cardenal, Etta James & the Roots Band, Foday Musa Suso, I.K. Dairo & his Blue Spots, Indigo Girls, Irene Wanner, Jimmy Cliff, Kanda Bongo Man, Laura Nyro, Lawson Fusao Inada, Marcia Ball, Michael Doucet avec Beausoleil, Mouth Music, Najma, Otis Clay & the Chicago Fire, Poncho Sanchez, Riders in the Sky, Roomful of Blues, Shankar, Terrance Simien & The Mallet Playboys, Texas Tornados, The Lovemongers, The Neville Brothers, The Posies, The Staple Singers, Tony Bennett, Tracy Nelson, W.P. Kinsella, Zachary Richard
