Scenes of Seattle’s Summer

What do you love about summer?

seafair

One of the best summer traditions in Seattle is Seafair. This annual summertime festival began in 1950 long before Seattle had a major sports team or even the Space Needle. The founders of Seafair were looking for a way to bring attention to our Northwest corner. That first hydroplane race with Stan Sayres in the race boat “Slo-mo-shu” began a tradition that now has parades, Native American dancing, pirates, athletic events, a milk carton derby, an airshow and of course the H1 Unlimited Hydroplane Races. Here are some scenes from the Seafair events we attended this summer.

native dance

The Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow featured over 200 dancers in full regalia celebrating the Native American tribal cultures. Here is a YouTube video by Vlad  Slavniy showcasing some of the dancing at the festival.

drillteam

These drill teams and the famous Chinese dragon were just a few of the participants in the Chinatown Parade.

dragondance

This YouTube video by Jamila Rozier has clips from many of the drill teams that performed in the parade.

 The highlight of the Seafair season is the traditional airshow and hydroplane races.

IMG_1711a

 My husband who is a Seattle native has been attending the hydros since he was a child. This year we went into “the Pits” where you can see the H1 hydroplanes up close. It was my lucky day when I was allowed to go inside the Albert Lee hydro! Mr. Lee helped me as I climbed inside and wiggled into the cockpit. Woo-hoo! I can take that dream off my bucket list now! We were also entertained by the Boeing Airshow.

hydro

airshow

A fun addition to the festivities were the Budweiser Clydesdales! Talk about huge horses!

clydesdales

Now that Seafair is over, it’s time to begin thinking about returning back to school. What are you looking forward to the most? Leave a comment and let me know!

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2 thoughts on “Scenes of Seattle’s Summer

  1. Dear Mrs. Hembree,

    Wow! The Seattle Seafair looks like a fantastic community event! I loved looking at the pictures and watching the videos. The drill teams were spectacular and there were so many groups! Are all of those teams from the Seattle area? I love parades and the video made me feel like I was there. Thanks for including that in your post!

    What a thrill to be able to climb inside a hydroplane! I’m not familiar with that type of boat. How fast do they typically go?

    School starts for me this week. In fact, I return to the classroom tomorrow and the students start on Wednesday. I am looking forward to seeing my returning second graders who will now be in my third grade class, and also meeting my new third grade students. We’ll have a wonderful year together. I’ll be sure to direct them to your fine blog!

    Your pal,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

    • Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      I think you would enjoy visiting Seattle during Seafair sometime! For one thing, it’s the best weather of the year usually! Plus, you can stay busy every weekend seeing the different events. Yes, to answer your question, all the drill teams are local Seattle area teams. They are spectacular to watch. The hydros as we call them here can go over 200 mph! They are loud and fast when they are on the lake!

      I hope you had a great first day of school with your third graders. We don’t begin officially until September 3rd, but most of the teachers have been at school setting up our classrooms in the new school. I look forward to blogging with your class this year again!

      Keep reading!
      Mrs.Hembree

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