WALK DONT RUN: Revival of Downtown Seattle, One Step—and One Hundred Artists—at a Time
On Saturday, September 20, 2025, downtown Seattle will come alive with art, music, and movement during WALK DONT RUN—a free, one-day celebration featuring over 100 local artists.
Spanning a 3-kilometer route from Occidental Square to Bell Street, the event will transform downtown sidewalks, plazas, parks, and storefronts into a corridor of performance, visual art, sound, and community-driven experiences that invite participation at every turn.
The free event runs from noon to 6 p.m., and invites everyone to walk, roll, or wander along the sidewalks to discover art happenings and performances. As attendees move through the route, they’ll encounter musicians, movement artists, sculptures, video art, and interactive experiments in community storytelling and creative play.
“Imagine it: traversing the city’s sidewalks, experiencing performance art and happenings, hearing music from buskers on every block, and enjoying temporary sculptures dotted throughout the city from Pioneer Square to Belltown,” said event founder Kira Burge, whose vision brought the project to life. “Empty storefronts and urban pockets—parks and plazas—are coming alive creatively.”
It also doubles as an open house for downtown venues, including the Seattle Art Museum, Baba Yaga and Jupiter Lounge, as well as buildings filled with working artists, such as the Good Arts Building and Base Camp Studios 2, and new cultural spaces including ArtLove Salon and Cannonball Arts.
The Making of a Moving Festival
The idea for WALK DONT RUN took root in a city reckoning with the post-pandemic vacancies and cultural fragmentation. As downtown storefronts sat empty and in-person community engagement became increasingly difficult to find, a group of cultural producers saw an opportunity to reimagine the urban core as a stage—one filled with celebration, experimentation, and collective energy.
Burge teamed up with collaborators Steven Severin, Alice Gosti, Philippe Hyojung Kim, Meli Darby, Olivia Neal Howell, and Jennie Kovalcik to build an event that emphasized community, imagination, and public accessibility. Inspired by the post-recession DIY art activities of the late 2000s, the dream quickly attracted hundreds of artist submissions. After a thoughtful selection process, more than 100 artists were chosen—their projects receiving compensation and space through numerous partnerships with private property owners, funding partners and individual donors, and permits covering over 20 blocks of sidewalks and public parks issued by the City of Seattle.
“This is a chance for our community—the folks who love the Northwest—to come downtown and be part of a day-long art adventure,” said Steven Severin, a longtime music and nightlife producer. “We want people to be part of the art, not just spectators. Bring your instruments, join the drum line!”
City as the Canvas
Unlike a traditional festival with stages and ticket booths, WALK DONT RUN unfolds across a living, breathing urban landscape. At one intersection, you might meet The Department of Bearing and Orientation, led by artist Ben Beres, a tongue-in-cheek “municipal agency” giving out spiritual and literal guidance with LED-lit arrow backpacks. Around the corner, artist Janet Galore’s Motivation Station dispenses videos of encouragement, creative prompts, or real talk from Seattle’s artistic community.
Nearby, you might stop and create art yourself in The Collaborative Landscape, a massive watercolor installation by Jesse Higman, where strangers pour paint together to produce shimmering, ephemeral pieces about flow and cooperation.
The diversity of artistic voices on display is one of WALK DONT RUN’s greatest strengths. From activist performance to surreal sculpture, from punk shows to marching bands, the event is as much about discovery as it is about curation.
At multiple points along the route, artist Tammie Dupuis–of Salish, Q’lispe, and European descent—presents oversized beaded sculptures that explore Indigenous visibility and layered identity. At the same time, Molly Jae Vaughan’s Project 42 pays tribute to transgender lives lost to violence through quiet, memorial art placed in a prominent plaza facing the Federal Building on 2nd Avenue.
Musical acts, including Pak & The Lolos featuring Totem Star—a vibrant collaboration of youth musicians and seasoned performers from the Totem Star collective—and Marshall Law Band, will fill downtown parks and plazas with hip-hop, R&B, and global sounds, featuring messages of empowerment and unity. Dance artist Giordana Falzone will use surreal, slow-moving choreography to invite passersby into a kind of dream-state awareness of public space as part of the performance Raw and Sunny.
Throughout the day, WALK DONT RUN becomes more than an event—it becomes a pulse. A movement. A city reawakening through creativity, discovery, and togetherness.
Join the Movement
WALK DONT RUN is an invitation to rediscover the city through joy and shared curiosity. It asks Seattleites to meet each other with open eyes and creative spirit, to linger where they might usually pass, to listen where they might not expect music.
Attendees are encouraged to register in advance, and to bring a non-perishable food donation for the Pike Market Food Bank. Priority needs include canned beans, fruits, and protein bars.
“WALK DONT RUN is a reminder that cities can still surprise us,” Burge said. “That art can show up in unexpected places, and that sometimes, when we slow down just enough to pay attention, we find each other again.”
Event Details
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2025
Time: 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Location: Starts in Occidental Square (117 S Washington St, Seattle)
Tickets: Free. Register at walkdontrun-sea.org
No streets will be closed, except for the final block of the route, which is Bell Street between 2nd & 3rd Avenues.
