Seattle's Famed (Partially Nude) Fremont Solstice Parade Saturday

SEATTLE, WA - Saturday is the summer solstice, which means that all eyes will be on Seattle's Fremont neighborhood - the "center of the universe" - for the annual Fremont Solstice Parade.

The parade is famous for its cadre of nude, body-painted bicyclists. But the nudity is just a small part (pun intended) of the weekend-long celebration. Here's the schedule for the 2018 Fremont Solstice celebration:

Fremont Solstice Parade: Begins Saturday at 1 p.m. at the intersection of Northwest 39th St and Leary Way Northwest. The parade finishes at Gasworks Park. The parade includes non-motorized floats, dancers - and yes, naked people riding bikes.

Fremont Solstice Celebration: FREE at Gasworks Park from 1:15 to 10:15 p.m. The schedule is as follows (descriptions from Fremont Arts Council):

2:00 pm Pundamonium – Pundamonium is a slam style pun making competition! Hosted by Forest Ember. One by one the contestants each have 2 mins to give it their best shot while the judges score them, the top punners end up going head to head in the final round! Anyone is welcome to compete or judge, just show up early and get in touch with Forest.

3:00 pm Dr Owl – Dr. Owl has been performing for many moons. First magic, then music, then balloons, and later, silly science. Sometimes he is a jester, other times playing a role on stage or doing walk around characters. His favorite thing to do is make balloon animals. However, anything that makes people smile, is fair game.

3:15 pm Cougar Oogle

4:15 pm Cabiri – The Cabiri has been part of the Fremont arts scene since 1998, bringing their colorful, mythology-based contemporary circus theater performances to life throughout the Pacific Northwest. Visit them at their new home – Arcadia – in the Frēlard neighborhood where you can take cultural, art, dance, and aerial classes.

3:45 pm Dr Owl – Jester, Entertainer & MC returns to the stage

4:45 pm Choroloco – Choroloco is a Seattle based acoustic trio specializing in choro, a highly melodic and rhythmic instrumental form of Brazilian popular music. Mixing the melodic forms of Classical music with Afro-Brazilian rhythms, it is syncopated and energetic. They play traditional songs from the early 1900s through today, as well as original music in the style.

6:15 pm The Evanstones –Try out your interpretive dance moves to some mid century music for a Post Modern Millenium. Originally lab chimps working as mild mannered reporters for a quaint metropolitan newspaper, The Evanstones came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal monkey men. Upon their arrival at the Ellis Island of Dr Moreau from the old country, the Evanstones changed their name from The Evansteins and were on their way to the fickle fate of forgotten fame and fortune!

8:15 pm Killer Workout – Killer Workout is a Seattle band that wants to make you move, dance, shake, convulse, whatever—just so long as you’re not standing still by the end. Musically, the band is what happens when modern indie meets late 70s/early 80s post-punk with a generous helping of new wave thrown in.

9:45 pm Emerald City Dragons – Emerald City Dragons is a fire and light performance troupe from the Seattle area originally created to help grow our community and benefit other various fire and flow projects. They have been operational for going on 3 years and had performers from all walks of life. They’ve even started to include other circus performances such as burlesque and clowning! On Saturday, Emerald City Dragons looks forward to bringing their little community to the Fremont Arts community!

File photo courtesy Patty Huzar