SEAFAIR, Seattle
Everything but the kitchen sink

For years before Seattle rose to international prominence in the 1990s, the city loved to tout that its population owned more boats per capita than any other in the U.S. It wasn’t hard to see why: With two large lakes within its city limits and the inviting labyrinthine byways of Puget Sound’s deep waters stretching from its western edge all the way to the Pacific, few people could resist the lure to own a boat.

Even Seattle’s supposedly rainy weather has never really been much of a deterrent. Despite the often gray skies brought on by the city’s London-like maritime climate, rainfall tends to come in drizzles and gentle showers. When skies are sunny, no other city on earth looks better.

Being at the far end of the country and having a tradition of trade with Asia, Alaska and South America, Seattle long ago developed its own distinct personality and folkways. Like its sister port to the south, San Francisco, Seattle never really cared very much what other cities or regions were up to – life within its realm was sufficient.

So it’s no surprise that every summer Seattle honors its boat-owning tradition with a month-long festival, SEAFAIR which manages to throw in just about every kind of event organizers can come up with: The 2003 version, which will begin July 5 and extend through August 3, will include a visit by a U.S. Navy fleet, an air show (including flights by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels), a half marathon and a triathlon, a beauty contest, milk carton races, a torchlight parade and hydroplane competitions.

But that’s not even the half of it. The metro area’s various neighborhoods and ethnic communities get behind SEAFAIR in a big way, sponsoring their own parades and festivals to coincide with the event. The Seattle neighborhoods of Magnolia, Queen Anne, Ballard and Wallingford, and the towns of Redmond, Renton and Mercer Island are among some of the communities that will hold their own sanctioned SEAFAIR events. Chinese, American Indian and Hispanic-themed celebrations will also take place.

Summer in the Pacific Northwest is probably matched only Maine and San Francisco for its mildness and brilliance. Seattleites, used to going weeks without direct sunlight in winter and early spring, come bounding and whooping and hollering out of doors when long summer days and long stretches of cloudless skies last for weeks, and SEAFAIR is the common focus for all this liberated energy.

SEAFAIR’s web site is information rich and easy to navigate.

Postscript: Due to the war in Iraq, the U.S. Navy may have to change its plans to participate in SEAFAIR since several of the ships scheduled to visit then are now in the Persian Gulf. We advise you to visit the SEAFAIR web site often to stay abreast of any changes in schedule or events.

– Patrick Totty