Greening Bumbershoot

Social Responsibility

The Bumbershoot experience involves community connections between youth and adults, friends and family, and those new to the city and long-time residents—creating a bridge through understanding and nurturing the social ties that underpin our flourishing society.

Arts participation is civic participation—building community, sharing heritage, finding connections, shared learning and mutual understanding.

Bumbershoot’s commitment to our community includes:

Recognizing the important nature of social responsibility, Bumbershoot aims to support other local non-profit organizations in meaningful ways that contribute to immediate and long-term goals. Ultimately, these projects will help make our community more sustainable, while spreading the spirit of doing the same for others. If you work with a non-profit focused on Arts, Culture, Education, or Environment, or simply want to lend your support get involved with Bumbershoot Gives Back!

The Bumbershoot Send-a-Kid program where your contribution of just $15 will send an under-served youth from our community, and an accompanying adult, to the Festival to learn, explore and imagine. In 2009, Bumbershoot fans and Wells Fargo helped send 460 fans to the Festival – a group of youth that wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the imagination, creativity and artistry Bumbershoot offers. Send-a-Kid donations are no longer available for the 2009 Festival; please consider contributing in 2010! Thank you to those who have already donated, and also to Wells Fargo, Arts Corps, and Art with Heart for their support of this special community-focused program for under-served youth.

Giving away hundreds of free Bumbershoot tickets to local non-profit organizations as a means to support fundraising activities.

Lending $30,000 worth of festival production equipment to local community events (including Issaquah Salmon Days, Northwest Folklife, Bite of Seattle and Seattle International Children’s Festival). This equipment is expensive but critical for a successful event. We loan two-way radios, gridmat, dance floor, electrical equipment and other props to local community-building events. In addition to those, One Reel organizes and operates heavy equipment operator certification programs free of charge to anyone in the local festival trade.

Production of the annual Mayor’s Arts Awards, helping to recognize the creative community we’re fortunate to be a part of. Seattleites nominate individuals or organizations who are actively making a difference in the community through arts and culture.

And of course, with that recognition of local talent, we’re lucky to directly support a host of local artists, musicians, authors and performers, as well as those who contribute to our local community through art curation and education. Bumbershoot 2010 will feature an amazing array of local artists, and programs curated by local organizations that include Theatre Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle International Film Festival, People’s Republic of Komedy and many more.

As a Festival focused on the arts and our local community, One Reel looks to local leaders in advisory roles including staff members from venues and organizations such as The Vera Project, KUBE 93 FM, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, Youth Speaks Seattle, among others.