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, is responsible for the management, cash flow, and financial risk of the festival.