A light show, outdoor festival and Seattle Center concert aim to draw people back to downtown Seattle

from

Seattle Times news assistant

After the first round of Welcome Back Weeks in July – inviting people to various downtown parks to enjoy live music, food and more to get people back to spending time downtown – the mayor announced of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, and the Downtown Seattle Association put a second on event calendar September 4th through 19th. These events are part of the city’s rebuilding effort, which aims to help small businesses, arts and cultural organizations and creatives recover after the pandemic left many buildings in the city center empty.

“In July, we helped thousands of Seattle residents and visitors get it outside, support small businesses, and celebrate our incredible downtown core with Welcome Back Weeks. We want to keep the momentum this September with Welcome Back events featuring our resilient creatives and arts and cultural organizations, ”Durkan said in a press release. “Our goal is to stimulate this vital industry, bring people back to the city center and provide a safe way to experience art and culture amid the pandemic.”

The first round of the Welcome Back Weeks drew an audience of more than 10,000 people in several inner-city districts. The second slate will include many of the same features, such as live music with local artists, food and drink, and information booths across the city. Three major events will take place at the Paramount Theater, City Hall Plaza and the Mural Amphitheater in the Seattle Center.

From 4pm to 10pm on September 10th, at the Paramount Theater, visitors can enjoy a free presentation of an immersive light and sound experience that blends the art, technology and music of Borealis, A Festival of Light. The show includes four 35-minute presentations with pauses in between to allow cleaning and movement in and out of the theater. Tickets are available online at Universe.com/events/borealis-at-the-paramount-tickets-2DP6Y5.

The second major event will take place on September 18 in the City Hall Plaza as part of a Celebrate Black Lives Matter festival. The outdoor festival includes local black-owned retailers, as well as food and performances curated by Legendary Children, a queer artist collective.

The third event, held at the Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheater from 2 p.m. to sundown on September 19, is an open-air concert featuring Seattle artists Sango, Fly Moon Royalty, and Essam. The Vera Project hosts DIY art activities like screen printing and button making from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Live performances begin at 4:00 p.m.

Vaccination certificates and a mask are mandatory for all three events.

You can find more information about the Welcome Back Weeks and the reconstruction measures in the city center at seattle.gov/mayor/covid-19/downtown-recovery.