The summer solstice is celebrated across the Northern Hemisphere. The longest day of the year brings warmer days, late sunsets, and plenty of excuses to spend as much time outside as possible—especially in our environmentally blessed corner of the world. 

In Sweden, Midsummer is celebrated with flower crowns, maypoles, folk dances, and eating pickled herring. At Stonehenge, thousands gather to watch the rising sun as it is perfectly framed by the ancient stones. And in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, Summer Solstice means a community-driven parade filled with bedazzled floats, eclectic costume ensembles, and performances of all kinds. The streets are filled with unicorn and shark floats, life-size puppets, unicyclists, belly dancers, jugglers, saxophonists, and magical creatures. 

Of course, one of the highlights is the naked bike ride where hundreds of Seattleites strip down and paint themselves before cycling from Gas Works Park and through the streets of Fremont. I’ve seen riders painted as Super Mario Bros. characters, sunflowers, butterflies, sun gods and goddesses, planet Earth, the solar system, and an entire school of fish.  

If it seems like you can’t remember a Seattle summer without the Solstice Parade, there’s a reason. Now celebrating its 35th year, the parade began in 1989, when Barbara Luecke and Peter Toms started it as a Fremont answer to Santa Barbara’s Summer Solstice Celebration. “Fremont needed a gathering to bring together the many artists living cheaply around the neighborhood,” says Maque daVis, a Fremont Arts Council board member, longtime organizer, and Solstice original.

The origins of the naked bike ride, now an inseparable part of Fremont Solstice, also date to that first parade.

“At this [first] parade, four naked men on bikes showed up, protesting the commercialism of using women’s partially naked bodies in ads,” says Conny Stephan, FAC board member. “Maque stopped them, asking them to leave. But when listening to their ideas of their protest, he decided to let them go. This is the beginning of the story of more and more bikers showing up every year. And when the city (of Seattle) claimed this is not appropriate, the FAC Board came up with the idea, if the cyclists were painted, it is art!”  

Despite a bit of resistance during the early years—including the arrest of a few nude riders in 1998—the naked biker gang persisted, and the Solstice ride lives on. The ride has grown from about 50 cyclists in the early 2000s to nearly 1,000 painted riders today. Paint continues to be central to the occasion, turning nudity into art—and bringing people together through paint parties. Solstice Cyclists help organize the riders and ride ahead of the parade to keep participants on track. 

“My favorite thing is seeing the creativity of everyone’s costumes,” says Alina Ptak, who has participated in three solstice bike rides while living in Seattle. “The paint party is also so much fun. It’s very joyous and colorful and there’s a sense of camaraderie and community.” 

In its 35 years, the Solstice Parade, which is overseen by the FAC, has certainly evolved and grown. However, the core ethos remains the same, with a few simple guidelines: anyone and everyone can be an artist and be part of the parade. The only electric vehicles allowed are motorized wheelchairs. No live animals (except service animals). And there are no printed words or logos. 

Part of the magic is that the occasion is created by the community. You can build a float, gather friends for a performance, connect to another group, or simply dress up as your favorite mythical creature, flower, or fairy and join in on the fun.

If you are planning on partaking in the naked bike ride, consider joining the community paint party for the occasion, with this year’s location still to be announced. Painting and clothing optional, though painting is part of the fun. Bike, run, walk, skip, skateboard, or rollerblade your way through the parade. 

This year’s parade falls on Saturday, June 20. Rideshare or bus in and arrive early, as streets shut down and the area becomes tricky to navigate. The bike ride starts at 12:30 p.m., with the main parade following at 1 p.m. A few of the groups helping bring the magic this year include the Brazilian-style street samba group Samba OlyWa, a World Cup float, and noodle-themed Seattle Pastafarians. 

So, whether you choose to shed your inhibitions or spectate from the sidelines, come celebrate the return of the sun on one of Seattle’s most beloved summer days.