Culture

Fremont Solstice Parade 2009, Nude Cyclists Ride Before Noon

by Tina Kells | June 19, 2009 at 04:35 pm

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For the past 18 years the Fremont Solstice Parade has kicked off summer in the Seattle, Washington area, but the 2009 event will mark the beginning of a new tradition. The Fremont Solstice Parade 2009 will welcome the addition of nude cyclists, who will ride the parade route before the noon start time.

Get a copy of the Fremont Solstice Parade Map

Get a copy of the official Fremont Solstice Parade Flyer

More accurately described as "painted" cyclists, the nudists who have organized the 2009 addition to the Fremont Solstice Parade are not looking to offend. The Fremont Solstice Parade 2009 will take place at noon on Saturday, June 20, and the nude cyclists will ride sometime between 11am and that start time.

The Fremont Solstice Parade marks the beginning of the Fremont Festival in Washington State. It is a popular event for families and the cyclists want to give people fair warning of their activities. Nobody will be fully nude while riding, they will all wear body paint or costumes, but organizers do not want anybody to feel uncomfortable for their inclusion.

If you are easily offended, this may not be the event for you. But if you have an open mind and can appreciate art of a more progressive variety, this is a spectacle worth seeing. An article on the Body Freedom Collaborative reports that the cyclists, "have been well-received by Fremont Summer Solstice Parade goers year after year and have introduced tens of thousands of citizens to healthy body positive attitudes in a festive way."

If you have no interest in seeing the Painted Cyclists, don’t let that stop you from attending the Solstice Parade which starts at noon. (The cyclists ride before the parade at some unappointed time after 11:00 a.m.) Note that the Solstice Parade draws quite a crowd to the smallish Fremont community, so come early, bring your patience, and take public transportation if possible … or else be prepared to spend some time finding parking and doing some walking.

After the Parade, make your way over to the fabulous Fremont Fair, which takes place both Saturday and Sunday. Directions to the Fair and a map of the parade route can be found at www.fremontfair.org/getting-here. More information can be obtained via the links provided below, or by emailing info@fremontfair.org or calling 206.297.6801. The Solstice Parade is free.

Sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council, the Fremont Solstice Parade and Festival is like a mini Mardis Gras in honor of the summer solstice. The 2009 Fremont Solstice Parade will also encompass the power of social media through a lose partnership with iPhone App Trottr. Fremont Festival attendees are being encorgaed to use the App to quickly and easily interact with Twitter during the event.

Trottr, a new Twitter mobile phone voice mail podcasting service, can be used this weekend by over 80,000 attendees of the 38th annual Fremont Fair in Seattle, WA. Individuals celebrating the Pacific Northwest solstice can „live twit“. the two day extravaganza by calling a local number (206-388-4334) to upload pictures and record 140 second „voice tweets“.