Future of DIY Seattle Music Fest Uncertain After This Weekend
Organizer Ben Shauland says the fourth annual festival could be its last.
By Caroline Craighead June 2, 2017
The concrete pillars supporting the West Seattle Bridge and Alaskan Way Viaduct will shake Saturday, as more than 40 artists perform at the fourth annual BIG BLDG Bash. The festival includes five stages beneath the roadways and food trucks spread outside the seafoam green Big Building.
Big Building is just that, a big warehouse building that leases out space to tenants including Ben Shauland, the founder of the non-profit record label BIG BLDG RCRDS. The record label got its start after the success of the first Bash in 2014 and has held the event ever since.
With a lineup boasting 42 Northwest acts and broad range of genres from hip-hop to aggressive punk rock, the festival finds its niche among the DIY music community.
“[The Bash] highlights some local music that other festivals don’t,” says Shauland. “It really embraces the spirit of the DIY community.”
Shauland is most excited to see Olympia band Naomi Punk perform as this is the first year the band has played at the festival. Other acts to watch are rapper Astro King Phoenix, post-punk band So Pitted, and Afro-Cuban hip-hop artist Guayaba.
After paying the bands, proceeds from the all-ages festival will be donated to the White Helmets, the volunteer civil defense organization working in Syria.
Shauland says that this could potentially be the last Bash, as the future of the building (which isn’t exactly up to code) is in jeopardy. DIY art spaces across the country have faced scrutiny since the Oakland warehouse fire last December that killed 36 people. Organizers of the Bash worked with the city of Seattle to ensure safety and plan to have all stages outdoors and to close off a street surrounding the venue.
BIG BLDG Bash 3 p.m. to midnight. Saturday. $30 advance tickets, $40 at door; 3600 E Marginal Way S.; bigbldgbash.com
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