The
Seattle Music Fest at Alki Beach (SMF) is
getting harder to ignore every year. The carefu lly
selected lineup of regional bands, a beautiful
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Largest crowds ever enjoy
the weekend at SMF.
Photo: Christelle Morgan
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stage on the beach, the welcoming atmosphere,
and the price (free with an optional donation) is making SMF a Seattle
must-see.
SMF welcomes record crowds
SMF continued its growth this year August 8, 9, and 10, kicking
off with its largest Friday crowd ever. Despite unusually drizzly
mornings on Saturday and Sunday, music fans came to Alki in record
numbers later in the day to discover new bands and support the ones
they knew.
A boost for artists and
the Northwest music community
NPA strengthens the Northwest music scene by focusing on upcoming
regional acts, not just big national names. SMF welcomes everyone
from die-hard music fans to those who couldn’t name an indy
record label to save their lives. Everyone has fun and many walk
away with a new favorite band. Proceeds fund NPA programs including
the Northwest Music Fund, which supports promising regional artists.
What the artists had to
say
“I can’t say enough about what it means to have this
kind of support for local music,” says The Fading Collection’s
Sarah McCulloch. “The level of commitment and dedication to
put on such a quality event — and still giving exposure to
new, relatively unknown artists— is awesome.
We are grateful that there are people in this town (that would be
you, NPA) willing to give their time and energy to keeping local
music thriving through an event like this. Thank you!” |
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Todd Schlosser of The
Senate Arcade put it this way: “I was surprised how big a deal
this thing is. It’s beautiful. The stage is all big and people
were having fun on the beach. We had a blast. This was great.”
Great bands, foods, and crafts
The music was impressive across the board and included some well-known
headliners, such as Carrie Akre, Ian Moore, The Lawnmowers,
Post Stardom Depression, and Cee-Lo (for a full
list of SMF03 bands, check out www.seattlemusicfest.org).
The crowd also enjoyed food and craft vendors and nearly bought out
the entire stock of SMF T-shirts and sweatshirts (e-mail us at info@northwestarts.org
for remaining inventory).
NPA hosts NBA Rhythm N’
Rims
This year SMF hosted the NBA Rhythm N’ Rims tour, featuring
two basketball courts, three-point contests, star NBA player appearances,
games, and giveaways. This turned out to be a great partnership and
added to the atmosphere.
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Carrie Akre and her band
proving that all the hard work was well worth it on Sunday
night of the Seattle Music Fest.
Photo: Jim McCabe
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Seattle Music Fest spurs
NPA’s development
Planning the event pushed NPA to excel. More staff, interns, and volunteers
than ever helped make SMF happen, driving improvements to everything
from the office layout to the computer network. Everyone learned a
lot about putting on a great event, people grew as individuals, and
the NPA team is stronger than ever.  |
