pioneer square >> downtown >> belltown

// september 20, 2025 // 12:00

>>> 6:00 pm

// september 20, 2025 // 12:00 >>> 6:00 pm

press

MEDIA COVERAGE

Seattle’s WALK DONT RUN Festival is a Major Success for Downtown // Seattle Magazine // September 26, 2025

WALK, DONT RUN wound through the heart of the city, with dozens of installations, performances, pop-ups, open galleries, and merriment along the way. Kicking off in Occidental Square with musical and drag performances, as well as a peppy sendoff from Seattle Cheer (they roamed the route throughout the day, encouraging art walkers with chants, smiles, and pom-pom shakes), programming happened on a rolling basis through four neighborhoods: Pioneer Square, the downtown core, the Pike/Pine corridor, and Belltown, with the finish line at Bell Street and Second Avenue. 

Walk Dont Run brings a big, bold art walk Downtown // Cascade PBS // September 18, 2025

The team of co-organizers of WALK DONT RUN — led by local arts-event producer Kira Burge — has planned an overflowing slate of artistic happenings from noon to 6 p.m. The list is long and exciting, including performers such as Kisha Vaughan’s Dope Girl Movement (featured in Black Arts Legacies), two different brass bands and art installations featuring glass, tapestries, ceramics and video.

Keep walking — there’s more live music, including by Chimurenga Renaissance, the Marshall Law Band, The Fabulous Downey Brothers, and Puerto Rican pop from Seattle’s Emi Pop. Plus, galleries, museums and creative spaces along the route will be open and inviting walkers in for more art experiences. Watch our video preview of the event on The Newsfeed.

WALK DONT RUN to fill Seattle with art, dance and music // KNKX Public Radio // September 19, 2025

Downtown Seattle will get a boost of creativity on Saturday, when more than 100 artists will take over 20 blocks of sidewalk in what organizers describe as an “art walk marathon.” It's the first time WALK DONT RUN will take place. The event will include artists, dancers and musicians performing, painting murals, showcasing work at galleries and even doing choreographed routines on bikes. “The goal is to contribute to downtown revitalization and to have a really good time doing it,” said event organizer Kira Burge.

WALK DONT RUN brings over 100 local artists to downtown Seattle // The Seattle Times // September 16, 2025

The event gives visitors opportunities to interact with artists and thier works closer up. “It’s not just about what we’re programming in these spaces that don’t normally have art programming,” said [Kira] Burge, who is also the programs director of Shunpike, a nonprofit organization supporting independent artists. “It’s about reminding the community of all the art programming that’s good all the time and the artists behind closed doors that are working.”

Beyond The Galleries // The Stranger // September 10, 2025

WALK DONT RUN is here to help you touch grass (or asphalt, anyway)—The route is lined with interactive art, music, and live performances by more than 100 artists, like the Fabulous Downey Brothers, 8‑Bit Brass Band (performing video game tunes), inflatable dancing sculptures, Chimurenga Renaissance (Hussein Kalonji and ex-Shabazz Palaces member Tendai Maraire), and a Motivation Station vending machine that offers video messages of encouragement, creative prompts, and tough love. There will be something for everyone—Bring the whole family, or a coven of brunch buddies, or just wander solo for the year’s biggest outdoor art walk. 

7 can’t-miss art exhibits and events for September // The Seattle Times // August 19, 2025

A marathon where running is discouraged? Don’t have to tell me twice. And I guess there’s art, too. Just kidding, the art is the point: During this “art walk marathon” stroll along a 3-kilometer stretch from Pioneer Square through downtown to Belltown, you can participate in and/or witness dozens of cultural experiences, including bicycle-based dance, synth-punk concerts, LED art, brass bands playing video game tunes and something called “motivational vending machines,” all for free. You can walk or roll as much or little of the route as you wish.

fall alumni Art Exhibits across Seattle // University of Washington Magazine // August 7, 2025

Branding itself as an “art walk marathon,” Walk Don’t Run is a three-kilometer art walk from Pioneer Square to Belltown, kicking off Art + Culture Week in Seattle (Sept. 20–27).

Volunteer for WAlk Don’t Run // Encore+ // July 1, 2025

A call is out for the inaugural Walk Don’t Run art marathon on September 20. Walk Don’t Run is a community art event that transforms Seattle’s urban landscape—parks, sidewalks, plazas, and downtown storefronts—into a 3-kilometer corridor of music, visual art, and live performance stretching from Pioneer Square to Belltown. Be a part of this remarkable event by joining the volunteer team.

PRESS RELEASES

artist lineup announcement // August 4, 2025

The WALK DONT RUN debut is a free, one-day public art celebration that will transform a 3- kilometer stretch of the city, from Pioneer Square through downtown to Belltown, into a vibrant corridor of music, movement, visual art, and community participation. You’ll see experimental dance, collaborative painting, immersive storytelling, punk shows, textile art, surreal sculpture, marching bands, participatory stop-motion animation, and motivational vending machines.