Belltown celebrates community pride with the Seattle Founders Day Festival

Belltown hopes to shed its image with a new festival.

"I want [people] to see that Belltown has more to offer than drugs, booze or nightlife," said Ben Borgman, owner of Belltown's Bedlam Coffee and festival coordinator. "We have a lot of talent and creativity."

The Seattle Founders Day Festival is a weekend affair, stretching 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Expect a parade with floats representing different restaurants and bars from the neighborhood, vendors, local musical artists like Feral Children, Kinski, Toy-Box Trio and Vince Mira, plus vaudeville and burlesque performances.

There will be 24 vendors peddling art and food, plus 21 hours of music programming. It all goes down on Second Avenue between Battery and Blanchard streets and on Bell Street between First and Third avenues.

"There obviously was a need in Belltown for a community event," said Elise Oras, another coordinator. "As one of the older neighborhoods in Seattle, it didn't have its own party or big-scale event."

In fact, what kicked off the festival was Borgman noticing South Lake Union's party.

"I drove through South Lake Union — they're 2 years old and they have a block party," said Borgman. "And Belltown is 107 years old and never had a festival of its own."

South Lake Union celebrated its block party on Friday.

Belltown is the second oldest neighborhood in Seattle, said Borgman, behind Pioneer Square. To celebrate its history, actors will dress up during the festival as the city's founders, such as David Swinson "Doc" Maynard, Seattle's founding father and first doctor.

There's more planned for the future, too. Belltown wants to revamp its art walk.

"We are coming together as a community, and showing that Belltown is more than just a Friday and Saturday night party spot," said Cory Chigbrow, owner of the new Belltown restaurant Pintxo. "So that people that don't live in Belltown will discover it as a destination point."

Marian Liu: 206-464-3825 or mliu@seattletimes.com