View source for Fremont Solstice Parade

{{short description|Summer solstice parade in Seattle}}
[[File:Solstice Parade 1992 - 01.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Front of Parade, 1992]]
[[File:PaintedCyclists2005 4.jpg|thumb|right|[[Solstice Cyclists]], 2005]]
[[File:BannerCarrierLeft.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Samba]] dancers, 2007]]
[[File:Fremont Solstice Parade 2009 - 073.jpg|thumb|Stilter and giant beach ball, 2009]]
[[File:Fremont Solstice 2012 - 113.jpg|thumb|right|Cyclists before the parade, 2012]]
[[File:2019 Fremont Solstice Parade - 124 (48124606798).jpg|thumb|Hauling a float, 2019]]
The '''Fremont Solstice Parade''' is an annual event that occurs each June in [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]].
The Parade was founded by Barbara Luecke and Peter Toms in 1989. Luecke and Toms were inspired by the [[Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade]] and Celebration.<ref>
{{cite news
| year       = 2008
| title      = 'Warts and all,' Fremont Solstice Parade continues surprises for 20 years
| publisher  = [[The Seattle Times]]
| url        = http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/367665_solstice20.html
| accessdate = 2008-06-23
}} {{Dead link|date=January 2012|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}
</ref> The Parade quickly grew to include thousands of participants and tens of thousands of spectators. The event is produced each June by the [[Fremont Arts Council]] (FAC), a non-profit organization based in the [[Fremont, Seattle|Fremont]] neighborhood of [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] that supports the arts and artists in and around the city. The Parade kicks off the Fremont Fair, which for many years was a benefit for [[Solid Ground (Seattle)|Solid Ground]] (originally known as the Fremont Public Association).{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
The Fremont Solstice Parade is famous for its style and flair, political humor, energetic ensembles, and creative floats. It is also widely known for the body-painted [[Solstice Cyclists]], who kick off the event each year by stripping nude and [[body painting|paint their bodies]]. The event is a slowly-paced music, dance and character procession where direct crowd interaction is encouraged and ensembles of actors in costume entertain with political and social commentary.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}
The Fremont Solstice Pageant, a large-scale community play using over a hundred actors, musicians and giant puppets, was performed following the parade from 1997 to 2005 at the end of the parade route at [[Gas Works Park]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}
The Parade distinguishes itself from other mainstream parades with the following unusual rules:
# No printed words, signage or recognizable logos.
# No live animals (except guide animals).
# No motorized vehicles (except motorized wheelchairs)
# No functional weapons.<ref>
{{cite web
|year=2008
|title=The Fremont Solstice Parade!
|publisher=[[Fremont Arts Council]]
|url=http://fremontartscouncil.org/events_solstice.html
|accessdate=2008-06-23
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614152327/http://fremontartscouncil.org/events_solstice.html
|archivedate=2008-06-14
|url-status=dead
}}
</ref>
The 2022 parade was scheduled for Saturday June 18. The parade was cancelled from 2020 to 2021, as announced on April 16, 2020, by the Fremont Arts Council [[2020 coronavirus pandemic in Washington (state)|coronavirus pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Halverson |first=Alex |date=April 16, 2020 |title=Seattle's Fremont Solstice Parade canceled due to novel coronavirus pandemic |url=https://www.seattlepi.com/coronavirus/article/seattle-fremont-solstice-parade-canceled-covid-19-15206563.php |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |accessdate=April 17, 2020}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Arts in Seattle]]
*[[Bohemianism]]
*[[Culture jamming]]
*[[Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade]]
==Notes and references==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes -->
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Fremont Summer Solstice Parade}}
* [http://fremontartscouncil.org Fremont Arts Council Homepage]
* [http://fremontartscouncil.org/parade Parade Homepage]
{{Fremont, Seattle}}
[[Category:DIY culture]]
[[Category:Clothing-optional events]]
[[Category:Summer festivals]]
[[Category:Pacific Northwest art]]
[[Category:Festivals in Seattle]]
[[Category:Culture of Seattle]]
[[Category:Fremont, Seattle|Solstice Parade]]
[[Category:Recurring events established in 1989]]
[[Category:1989 establishments in Washington (state)]]
[[Category:June events]]