Planning a meeting around a festival can be a great strategy to piggyback on events that may appeal to your group, providing a readymade, locally flavored activity option during the meeting program or as a pre or post option.
Of course, massive annual festivals may present housing hassles as room rates are through the roof and availability is swallowed up months ahead of your meeting.
[Related: Seattle's Summit and One-of-a-Kind Vibe Have the Emerald City Soaring]
Seattle, however, offers some great midsize festivals that can serve as a springboard to increased attendance and maximum Return on Experience with a minimum of expense, with four in particular held during slow times on the tourism calendar and two tied directly to deals in conjunction with more than 70 downtown hotels.
“Visit Seattle works on a number of creative campaigns and events that allow meeting attendees to experience our city’s core offerings: art, music, history, innovation, wine and culinary excellence,” said Kelly Saling, senior vice president and chief sales officer for Visit Seattle. “Many of these experiences are geared toward leisure travelers primarily, but they make for fantastic add-ons if you are coming to town for a conference. Catch a concert after the day’s programming during November’s Cloudbreak music festival. Come to Seattle a day early to experience the massive new Alexander Calder exhibit at Seattle Art Museum during February’s Seattle Museum Month. Or stay the weekend around your October meeting to discover why Seattle is the glass art capital of the United States.
[Related: Meet the Women Behind Visit Seattle’s C-Suite]
“With blended travel on the rise,” she continued, “we are keenly aware that it’s not just leisure travelers who are looking for authentic experiences in destinations—there’s room for work and play.”
Following are four Seattle events that could be winners to book a meeting around.
Taste Washington
The Pacific Northwest, and Washington state in particular, is known for its world-class wine and abundance of locally produced and procured cuisine, with a big emphasis on seafood such as oysters and salmon.
Billed as “the nation’s largest single-region wine and food festival,” Taste Washington is a 10-day fete held in mid-March that offers seminars, a dinner series, Sunday brunch, community events and The Grand Tasting, which in 2024 is being held over two days in Lumen Field Event Center and boasts nearly 150 top Washington wineries and more than 40 restaurants and artisanal food purveyors.
[Related: Locally Focused Culinary Experiences in the Pacific Northwest]
Other event locations—all featuring fantastic food, wines and other beverages—include Pier 62 for Walk-Around Tasting Experiences that follow a variety of themes.
[Related: Consider These Women-Led Businesses in Seattle for Your Next Event]
Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience
October celebrates Greater Seattle’s standing as the glass art capital of the U.S. According to Visit Seattle, the area supports more than 700 glass artists and produced perhaps the most-celebrated glass artist of all-time, Dale Chihuly, and his many disciples who now carry forward his legacy.
Running for about four days, Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience, created by Visit Seattle in partnership with Chihuly Garden and Glass, showcases the works of nearly 60 artists via 80 events, including artist parties, private and open studio tours, special gallery exhibitions and hands-on glass-blowing experiences in hot shops.
Free shuttles transport visitors between downtown galleries. Refract venues include:
- Chihuly Garden and Glass
- Pike Place Market Glass Artist Showcase
- Glass Art Society, Museum of Glass
- Lino Taglipietra Studio
- Traver Gallery
- Pilchuck Glass School
- Seattle Glassblowing Studio
- Radiant Neon
- Stonington Gallery
- Gallery Mack
- Pratt Fine Arts Center
- Blowing Sands Glass Studio
- Vetri
The six downtown Seattle hotels that offered Refract packages in 2023 included some major meetings and conventions properties:
- Astra Hotel
- Seattle Fairmont Olympic Hotel
- Grand Hyatt Seattle
- Lotte Hotel Seattle
- Sheraton Grand Seattle
- W Seattle
The opening night party, Gather, is held at Chihuly Garden and Glass.
Cloudbreak
Hailed as “Seattle’s citywide live music fest” by Visit Seattle, which spearheaded the event to drive tourism during the destination’s slow period, Cloudbreak lasts nearly the whole month of November and last year featured more than 100 artists playing more than 70 shows at over 30 venues.
Besides priming the citywide tourism pump in a historically slow month, Cloudbreak began life in 2022 with the purpose of supporting the city’s live music community and boosting business in downtown hotels following the pandemic.
Venues at last year’s Cloudbreak, held in neighborhoods throughout the Emerald City, included the following:
- The Crocodile
- Nectar Lounge
- Royal Room
- Tractor Tavern
- Trinity Nightclub
What’s more, Cloudbreak-affiliated shows are free for guests staying at 70 participating Seattle hotels, who merely need to show their live music pass and hotel key card for entry. Since space is limited, guests can also reserve a spot in advance.
Seattle Museum Month
Another month-long fest tied to a hotel deal, Seattle Museum Month offers half-off museum tickets for guests booked at one of more than 70 downtown hotels.
Held in February, each pass allows entrance for up to four people.
Participating hotels and cultural institutions include:
- The Museum of Flight
- Seattle Art Museum
- Chihuly Garden and Glass
- Seattle Aquarium
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Museum of Pop Culture
- Seattle Pinball Museum
A full list of venues is available at www.se
attlemuseummonth.com.
“Customers are frequently blown away—pun intended—after creating their own glass art at one of the city’s numerous glassblowing studios or sipping Washington’s finest vintages in remarkable Seattle venues,” Saling said of two of the city’s signature festival offerings. “We really enjoy showing planners how they can tap into our destination’s strengths to make their meeting memorable and impactful.”
Connect
More coverage of Washington destinations: https://www.meetingstoday.com/topic/category/washington
