Seattle's Bumbershoot Fest Announces Lineup

Above: United State of Electronica performs at the 2006 Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival in Seattle, Wash.

Already a mecca for music and art lovers, come September Seattle will have another reason to attract visitors. Seattle's Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival has put together one of the most comprehensive lineups of music, art, comedy, dance, film and literature – no easy task, but this year's festival, which will take place Sept. 2-4, 2006, already looks like a who's who and what's what of the culturally-conscious.

Bumbershoot boasts one of the best music line-ups in the festival circuit, spanning genres and generations. Among the dozens who will grace the stage at Bumbershoot are artists like Kanye West, Blondie, Steve Miller Band, Spoon, The New Pornographers, Feist, Shooter Jennings, Of Montreal, Mates of State, Matt Costa, Jose Gonzalez, Alejandro Escovedo, Sonya Kitchell, Jamie Lidell, Copeland, Laura Viers, and CocoRosie.

Though the music scene at Bumbershoot will be the main attraction, there are a host of other offerings at the festival. Some of the best literary, dance, comedy and art exhibitions (not to mention a roller derby competition) will be taking place—Upright Citizen's Brigade, a live version of VH1's Best Week Ever!, Zack Galifianakis and many others will be making audiences laugh from two stages. And, in what promises to be one of the more outrageous comedic offerings at Bumbershoot, Trapped In The Closet will feature comedians and a guest panel to discuss portions of R. Kelly's unintentionally hilarious hip-hopera Trapped In The Closet.

With the overarching theme of "High Tech vs. Home Ec," Bumbershoot's visual arts exhibits, gallery tours, and activities will tie all mediums of visual art together to explore how technology-based art and the recently popular craft movement relate and overlap. For theater, performance art and dance lovers, there will be no shortage of treats from groups such as Hip Hop Theater, Rubberbandance Group, Degenerate Art Ensemble and a host of homegrown Seattle talent (NAKeD PUPPeTS, Troy Miszklevitz, Macha Monkey Productions, subatomic productions, and Pacific Northwest Ballet).

Booklovers will delight in the dozens of authors slated to make up Bumbershoot's Literary Arts lineup, featuring such writers as Chuck Palahniuk, Tami Sagher, Charles D'Ambrosio, Ashok Mathur, Shoshana Berger, and Kurt B. Reilgley. And, for the first time, Bumbershoot's 1 Reel Film Festival will be curated by the Seattle International Film Festival, and is set to include more than 100 live-action, animated, experimental, and documentary films.

For a complete listing of artists, performers, and authors who will be at Bumbershoot, as well as a schedule and ticketing information, visit bumbershoot.org.

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