Seattle Superheroes: Adam Zacks

The Sasquatch founder always puts on a great show

By Seattle Mag March 8, 2016

A comic with a bigfoot playing a guitar.

Seattle Superheroes is a regular series on seattlemag.com wherein artists depict standout people in our community as superheroes. While we’ve taken some artistic license with the narratives, the sentiment behind them is very real.

When the Northwest is in need of a jolt and the summer light begins to kiss the tops of area pine trees; when the music needs to get out into the world and move limbs and bodies, Adam Zacks and his Sasquatch are there to provide the party.

Zacks is the founder of the Sasquatch Music Festival, a four-day music extravaganza that takes place May 27-30 at The Gorge Amphitheatre, and has brought some of the biggest names in music to the scenic stage, including Angel Olsen, Modest Mouse, Robert Plant and Kendrick Lamar.

This year’s lineup features The Cure, Alabama Shakes, Sufjan Stevens, Mac DeMarco and local bands like Telekinesis, Beat Connection, La Luz, Tacocat, Deep Sea Diver, Mindie Lind and Grace Love.

When the time is right, Zacks dons his Sasquatch cape, flies high into the sky and shouts, “Sasquatch POWER!” and the mythical creature appears out of thin air, summoned and ready to party. Zacks first realized he had this ability in 2002, the year he founded the festival. He (along with his faithful hairy friend) hasn’t looked back since.

About the artist: Pat Moriarity studied graphic design at Iowa State University. Since graduating, he has worked as comic book artist, freelance illustrator/designer, art director for Fantagraphics Books and the Comics Journal, animator, writer and adjunct professor at the Seattle Art Institute. He currently lives in Port Orchard, Wash., swimming continuously, like a shark, always looking for that next cartoon project so he can stay alive.