'Warts and all,' Fremont Solstice Parade continues surprises for 20 years

Barbara Luecke and Peter Toms may not be household names in Seattle, but the tradition they created from humble beginnings two decades ago is a city institution.

They are the minds behind the Fremont Solstice Parade, taking place at noon Saturday and entering its 20th year dazzling Fremont with a colorful burst of artistic expression.

The annual parade is hosted by the Fremont Arts Council and is well known for its unconventional flair and bold anti-establishment statements consisting entirely of artwork, costumes and puppets created by community members. The only rules: no printed words or identifiable logos, no live animals except guide animals, no motorized vehicles and no weapons.

The guidelines are meant to encourage creativity and eliminate boundaries between groups. From there, the Fremont celebration is subject to the unabashed expression of its participants.

The Fremont Solstice Parade was inspired by the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Celebration, which Luecke and Toms worked for in the 1980s. They moved separately to Seattle and in the fall of 1988 decided they should adapt what they did in Santa Barbara to Seattle.

"There was a gentle feeling in the air, I sensed, that it would take off and be great here," Toms said, noting Seattle's embrace of the arts. "There's a certain sort of free spirit that pervades in Seattle, a willingness to try new things."

The first parade marched in 1989 in front of about 300 people. Today it hosts tens of thousands of eager Seattleites wondering what they will see this year.

"It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed," said Luecke, now the program administrator for Sound Transit's STart Public Art Program.

Having soared from its modest Fremont roots, the parade has become a well-known Seattle tradition.

"It's simply been accepted, in all of its warts and all," Tom said. "The city of Seattle sort of adopted it as its own."

The Solstice Parade has been notorious throughout the years for its flamboyant anti-establishment nature. Luecke and Toms said individual expression and community celebration are at the heart of the event, whatever may happen.

"It's about the expression of the collective consciousness and unconsciousness," Luecke said.

Toms described the parade as a true practice of freedom, not in the political sense but in a way that enables the liberation of mind and spirit.

"The boundaries are few," he said. "If you want to stand up and take off your clothes and walk around, you can."

Accordingly, the parade has become famous for the naked bicycle riders who "crash" the event every year.

The grass-roots community spirit of the parade stems from the collective nature in which the event is put together. Volunteers and artists at the Fremont Arts Council work diligently to produce a diverse display, and all people are welcome to take part. Costumes and puppets are created at the council's headquarters, the Powerhouse on Fremont Avenue, with an emphasis on using recycled materials. The organizational structure is flexible, allowing people to donate whatever time and focus they can.

"Many people find it rewarding to work in this collective art capacity," Luecke said. "...It's really about getting off the sidelines and getting involved."

For artist and volunteer Cameron Mason, the parade is a family tradition. Mason met Toms and Luecke in 1989, a week before the first Solstice Parade. Since then she has created large-scale ensembles for each parade, sometimes involving more than 100 people, and has become best friends with "Barb and Peter." Her children, ages 12 and 9, have been in the parade every year since they were born.

Mason said the parade would not exist without the combined influence of Toms and Luecke. Toms' creative savvy and optimism combined with Luecke's passion for public art and her administrative knack have been the driving forces behind the event.

"I think they both have this amazing vision of what they could see happening. ... They never kind of backed down from this vision," Mason said. "What they created is much larger than this parade walking down the street. It's about this community. It's become this family that created this crazy thing because we could."

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