For more than 30 years the Fremont Solstice Parade has wowed, bedazzled and inspired Seattle in magical celebration of the longest day of the year. Below is everything you need to know to join in, spectate or join the hordes naked cyclists, including more than 60 ensembles and thousands of others that parade through Fremont to Gas Works Park, with local and national bands, art, great food, friends and more.
The Fremont Solstice Parade is Saturday June 22nd
Parade Starts at 1:00pm at Leary Way NW & 2nd Ave NW
Join the Facebook Event here
Painting stations for Naked Cyclists available from 8am-12pm at CSR Marine 4701 Shilshole Ave NW
Join the Facebook Event here
What to bring
The Fremont Solstice is Community Powered! The event is free for spectators, and everyone is invited to join in with an ensemble in the parade or as part of the naked bicycle ride. Make sure and bring:
Water (more than you think) and snacks
Sunscreen and lip balm – protect those sensitive bits
Camera to document the fun!
For Bicyclists: If you are spectating, make sure to show up and grab your spot early! Parking and prime viewing spots go quickly, and some people even put out chairs and couches the night before. If you are participating in the bike ride:
Bicycle (yours, or go rent one!)
A bag and extra change of clothes
Sunscreen for UNDER your paint!
Yogurt containers for mixing paint
Paint brushes – the inexpensive foam type work well
Stencils
Bike decorations
For all you wonderful Cascadians out there who would like to join us, we will be focusing around a riding contingent painted in the Cascadian colors, and cycling as a block of blue white and green! We will have paint available, and be giving out free Cascadia bike flags. Once we reach the end of the parade at Gasworks Park, we will dance, wave flags, and have a table with flyers and flags to share the Cascadia love. Other Cascadians will be dressing as mythical creatures with giant puppets and marching in the parade.
For Paraders:
The parade is free & open for everyone!
Come celebrate the longest day of the year through profound street theater, public spectacle, and a kaleidoscope of joyous human expression. This handmade parade consists of human-powered floats and community-based ensembles.
Everyone is welcome to join the parade!
The Fremont Solstice Parade’s unique character is defined by a few simple rules:
☼ No printed words or logos
☼ No live animals (except guide animals):
☼ No motorized vehicles: We allow motorized vehicles for handicapped access only. Our parade is a human-powered parade!
☼ No actual or real looking weapons and no fire: Safety first!
Be in the Parade! fremontartscouncil.org/parade
Volunteer! fremontartscouncil.org/volunteer/
Support the Parade! fremontartscouncil.org/donate/
Painting stations for Naked Cyclists available from 8am-12pm at CSR Marine 4701 Shilshole Ave NW
For Solstice Cyclists:
There is free parking all over, and indoor and outdoor spaces for painting in privacy.
Leave your shame behind, and join the Solstice cyclists!!! Leading the parade each year is always thousands of colorfully painted naked bicyclists! This is an open, fun and free event, and if you have never done it before, there are paints available. Or bring enough for you & your friends.
Bring your bicycle (or rent one) and your Cascadian pride and meet us at the CSR Marine Building for the paint-up. We will have blue, white, green and black paint available and small bicycle flags available by donation so you can fly the flag whatever paint design you have in mind for your body.
Painting parties
If you want to organize your own paint-up and you’re willing to share the experience with new friends, please post to SolCycles@yahoogroups.com. Rendezvous at the start of the parade route (the corner of 3rd Ave NW and NW 36th St) at 12:30pm, painted and ready to kick off the parade! If you don’t get to the start location before the parade starts moving, circle around to Stone Way N and N 35th St. and head west on N. 35th St.
See the page on the main paint party if you want to join the bulk of the riders in painting up.
Join the community
The Painted Cyclists have long been a fixture of the Fremont Solstice Parade experience. The parade is produced by the Fremont Arts Council; it’s a fantastic and whimsical celebration of the return of the sun, complete with larger than life puppets, floats, and street performers.
To get (or provide) further details on the ride, the paint party, and painting ideas, join our community by sending a message to SolCycles-subscribe@yahoogroups.com, with a short message saying how you fit in. You can also read this great Steven Bradford’s Body Paint Tips & Techniques.
The Painted Cyclists engage and entertain the crowd with our boldness, bareness and enthusiasm. Join us as we welcome summer to Seattle with an outpouring of artistic expression, fossil-fuel-free travel, and fun.
At Gasworks Park
Join the Fremont Solstice Parade after party at gasworks
Follow the Fremont Solstice Parade into Gas Works Park for a grand, FREE celebration from 1:00-10:15 PM on June 22, 2019; the Fremont Solstice Celebration! People, stay, celebrate, eat, enjoy free music and food, and dance their naked (or clothed) butts off!
This year is a partnership the Stay Happy Collective for this year’s Celebration. There will be a profusion of interactive fun and an amazing music lineup. Kick back and raise a glass at our beer garden! Proceeds directly support the Parade and Celebration. Top it off with a hearty meal from a wide selection of Food Trucks to feed us all after a joyous parade.
Fremont Fair
Happening simultaneously, the Fremont Fair is Seattle’s annual kickoff to summer, celebration with over 100,000 guests at the city’s most beloved neighborhood street festival. The weekend features the traditional Fair with 300+ artists, craft vendors, food booths and more, and the iconic Fremont Solstice Parade put on by the Fremont Arts Council – all coming together to celebrate the Fremont neighborhood’s “Delibertas Quirkas” (Freedom to be Peculiar) nature.
Be careful! The Fremont Fair is a FOR PROFIT event. If you want to make a donation or support the Solstice Parade celebration, make sure to support the Fremont Arts Council, which is the 501(c)3 non-profit that hosts it. Often there is confusing or misleading advertising, and people get mixed up on who to donate too.
