Seattle Center: always fun and always fair
Published: Mar 26, 2009
When the Seattle World's Fair closed its gates forever in October 1962, it left several gifts behind — a city icon (the Space Needle), a downtown transporation link (the Seattle Center Monorail), a not-bad Elvis movie ("It Happened at the World's Fair"), and the fairgrounds themselves, a giant green space surrounded by theaters and museums.
Today the fairgrounds are called Seattle Center, and for all intents and purposes, it is Seattle's playground. This is where two of the city's biggest music and arts events — the Bumbershoot Festival and Northwest Folklife — take place, along with dozens of other seasonal events.
In winter, Seattle Center is where you'll find the city's public ice rink; in summer, a different outdoor arts, music and cusine festival happens pretty much every weekend.
But there doesn't need to be an event happening at Seattle Center for you to enjoy its subtle charms. The International Fountain, a giant half-sphere that shoots jets of water high into the air, is a favorite of kids and teenagers looking to cool off on hot days.
Every corner of the grounds boasts a piece of public art or a nice secluded spot: an ornate bell donated by Seattle's sister city of Kobe, Japan; a set of polished granite rocks engraved with poems; a pair of metal "whales" swimming in the grass; an amphitheatre with a spectacular tile mural and more. Every step reveals some new discovery, some fresh surprise.
However, most Seattle Center vistors are there only to stretch their legs, walk their dogs, to play Frisbee, or simply lay back on the grass and read. That's fine, too.
Seattle Center is colloquially known as "the city's backyard," and like any backyard, it can be whatever you want it to be.
- by Geoff Carter, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro
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