Bumbershoot Festival Commission Subject Files

Series

Identifier: 9312-01

Scope and Contents note

Correspondence, reports, budget materials, audits, contracts, and business plans related to the Bumbershoot Festival and the activities of the Bumbershoot Festival Commission. Includes Commission minutes, appointments of members, reorganization studies, and records related to One Reel Vaudeville Show, the contractor that operates Bumbershoot. The Commission office was closed at the end of 1994 and management of the festival was turned over to a private organization.

Dates

Creation: 1980-1994

Creator

Bumbershoot Festival Commission (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access note

Records are open to the public.

Historical Note

The Commission was created in 1985 to oversee the annual Bumbershoot Festival. The festival began in 1971 and was named Bumbershoot in 1973. It was administered by different City departments over the years, including Seattle Arts Commission and the Seattle Center. Following three straight years of financial losses, a restructuring plan was adopted in 1994 that consolidated the management of the festival with production. The BFC, as constituted since 1985, was abolished. One Reel Vaudeville Productions, the producer of the festival over the previous 14 years, and the BFC members formed a new nonprofit entity that, beginning in 1995, was responsible for the management, cash flow, and financial risk of the festival.

Full Extent

6.8 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Records of a commission overseeing the annual Bumbershoot music and arts festival at Seattle Center.

Related Materials

Related materials can be found in Record Series 7610-03, 5807-05, and 7405-01. Record Series 9312-02 contains a selection of posters from the festival.