Solstice in Seattle

So here's another reason why I love living in Seattle - the Fremont Solstice Parade and Fair. At a barbecue afterward I was telling a woman that there is something oddly comforting to me about having an event like this in my city. I suppose I feel comfortable living among freaks. Or maybe I realize that we're actually all freaks. Fly your freak flags folks, fly 'em high. Check out some photos of the parade. Some are a bit fuzzy and plenty include heads of parade watchers. Next year we're going early to get better parade seats right up front. Click on any image to view a larger version.

After the parade there's a giant street fair - basically the whole neighborhood is included. Great live music there and loads of delicious samples but the crowds eventually got a little too thick for our comfort.


Yep - boobs. The naked bike parade isn't actually part of the parade. Apparently they have "crashed" the parade for the past fourteen years. They love it, the crowds love it, the cops allow it. Neat to see families cheering on the nudies instead of shielding their kids' eyes.


More naked bikers getting ready to go


Naked bikers on the move!


More bikers - there were so many bodies in all shapes and sizes and all so happy and confident. As a spectator you really could not help but smile along with them. I read a report today which estimated more than 400 people participated.


The parade begins after the bike procession.


Wonderfully creepy creatures on stilts






I love a band on a float. No motorized vehicles are allowed in the parade so all floats were pushed, pulled or pedaled. Another parade rule outlawed any words or logos. So groups would still carry banners, but instead of listing a sponsor they would be covered in hearts or suns and moons or flowers or peace symbols or pot leaves.


There were many floats with live music, though really the only thing the parade lacked was more actual marching bands. Beth was very happy to have had at least this one.


Zebras performing a dance routine


Colorful floats






Strange floats. This one had insect-like legs that would walk alongside the rolling float.


Peace militia


Flying Spaghetti Monster with pirate-costumed followers. If you're not familiar with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you must learn more.


These ladies were spectacular. The costumes were made of newsprint and refrigerator boxes. I'm sure they were extremely pleased at the lack of rain.


This one is especially worth clicking on for the larger version to see the detail.

If you want to see photos captured by folks with a better view, here's a link to a Flickr set.

And here's video I didn't take:


And since this whole shebang is to celebrate the solstice, here's a photo taken from a friend's backyard last night at around 10pm.

Score my design!

So I went ahead and submitted one of my illustrations to Threadless to see if it makes the cut and gets printed on a T-Shirt. If you're out there reading this, please please please follow the link below and give me some scorin' love! If the design is scored high enough it gets printed and I get a cool $2,000. Pretty nice, eh? You do have to set up a Threadless account to score but it's super quick and they don't hassle you with emails or anything like that (just opt out of the newsletter option) Tell your friends!

The link: