2010 marks the first year that the Fremont Chamber of Commerce will take control of the annual Fremont Fair.  As a I wrote a couple of weeks ago, the Chamber takes the reigns from Solid Ground, who has produced the 2-day summer celebration for nearly 40 years.

As a reminder, there is an open house tonight to brainstorm ideas for this year’s fair, which takes place June 19-20.  The meeting will be at The Ballroom (456 N. 36th St) from 5:00-7:00 p.m.  Any businesses or residents interested in helping to shape the Fremont Fair is encouraged to attend.  Pizza will even be provided by the Fremont Chamber!

After nearly 40 years of producing the Fremont Fair, creator and organizer Solid Ground is passing the torch on to the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. 

The 2-day event, which coincides with the Summer Solstice, began in 1972 as a celebration of the Fremont neighborhood and a fundraiser for Solid Ground(then known as the Fremont Public Association) to help fight poverty in this community.  Since then, the organization has grown immensely and they now work to provide support throughout the state.  In an effort to keep the fair rooted in Fremont, Solid Ground Executive Director Cheryl Cobbs says it makes sense to hand over the reigns at this time.

“We did not make this decision lightly – Solid Ground has produced this event for several decades as a way to involve folks in building a better community, while also directly giving back to the neighborhood where we resided.

The event was very near and dear to us, but, given our growth and other fundraising endeavors, this event no longer made sense to remain under Solid Ground’s umbrella. We are very excited the Fremont Chamber has agreed to take over all ownership and management of the event moving forward, and we could not have left it in better hands.”

Fremont Chamber President Marko Tubic says they are more than happy and ready to take over organization of the annual event.  A portion of the money raised through the fair will continue to go to Solid Ground. 

“Not only did we want to help ensure this event remains as strong as ever, but with more than 100,000 people attending the event annually, it is an excellent chance to help promote Fremont businesses and draw attention to our eclectic community, which perfectly supports the Chamber’s mission. Plus, we will still be able to route funds raised by the event to Solid Ground, as well as other deserving organizations, so it is truly a win-win for all.” 

This year’s fair takes place June 19-20.  The Solstice Parade, which is produced by the Fremont Arts Council, will remain part of the weekend’s festivities.  There will also be plenty of booths, live bands and beer gardens, as well.

The Fremont Chamber is hosting an open house on February 17 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Ballroom (456 N. 36th St) to brainstorm and get input from any Fremont businesses and residents interested in helping to shape this year’s event.  There will also be a series of public input meetings down the road.  Any vendors who want to participate in the fair can now apply online.  The application deadline is April 1.  Questions regarding the 2010 Fremont Fair can be emailed to info@fremontfair.org.

Donations are being counted today after a busy weekend at the Fremont Fair.

We spoke with Mike Buchman of Solid Ground who said the “great crowds and great weather” helped draw people to the fair. Although the “fives, tens, twenties and occasional fifties” are being counted today, Buchman is guessing the organization raised $50,000 and $60,000 with the orange donation canisters and the net revenue from the Fair. All the money raised will go back to the Solid Ground Family Shelter in Fremont.

We had to check out the Seattle ArtCar Blowout at the Fremont Fair, and one car in particular caught everyone’s eye.

It’s the “ChewBaru,” a ‘95 Subaru owned by Rex Rosenberg.

The car is covered with 70 pounds of real dentures, 70 pounds of dental impressions, dozens of used toothbrushes, a few real teeth and more gross dental stuff. The bumper sticker in the rear window says it all: “You have to be real secure to be seen in a car like this.” No doubt.

So far, beautiful weather has blessed the Fremont Fair, and thousands of people are enjoying the live music, entertainment, food, beer gardens and hundreds of booths of arts, crafts and causes.

It’s all to support Solid Ground, so don’t forget to drop a donation in the orange canisters at the entrances to the fair.

One of the mainstay acts every year is Carrie Clark & The Lonesome Lovers, seen here playing on the main stage.

Alex the Juggler is one of the many street acts that dazzled the crowd.

The most bizarre booth we saw is the, ahem, Family Nudist Park.

And the award for the most creative yet slightly over-the-top advertising effort goes to Foster Farms (yes, that’s a person inside that fuzzy thing), which blanketed the fair with dozens of people with signs and chicken hats.

Kids, meanwhile, had a ball at the Super Slide. The Fremont Fair runs all day Sunday until 7 p.m., and check out the music schedule here.

Have a photo to share? Send it to us at tips@fremontuniverse.com.

Close-up photographs of some of the colorful people in the parade:

Click through below for many more…

The crowd felt much bigger than last year, and the best photographic evidence is when 36th turns into Fremont Ave. Look at the depth of the crowd:

And that’s just one small section of the parade route.

The best view might have been at the top of Lenin.

Or from the top of the apartments.

A few protesters spoke their minds about the Middle East.

Kids were everywhere, enjoying the colorful action in the street.

And as always, The George & Dragon was a popular spot.

As promised, more photos from the Solstice Parade, starting with the most popular attraction: the hundreds of naked, painted bikers.

For more, click through below. Warning: there will be nakedness…

Fremont’s biggest bash of the year kicked off at noon with the annual audacious display of painted bodies on bikes.

The Solstice Parade began with 300 to 400 mostly naked bicyclists (an unofficial record) riding proudly down 36th. They also took a quick swing through Ballard, to get things rolling.

They’re “officially” not part of the parade, which is conducted by the Fremont Arts Council, but a popular tradition, to say the least.

This year’s theme is “Phoenix Rising,” so to the tune of Richard Strauss’ opening score in the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey, an orange firebird slowly evolved from the center of the float.

Thousands of people packed the neighborhood, clamoring for every square foot of land along the parade route, even climbing up Lenin. There were so many people, our iPhone couldn’t connect to cell service. And as you can see from our Fremont Twitter page, people were sending Tweets like crazy.

The Superhuggers spread the love to the crowd, one hug at a time.

Liquid Belly Dancers flow down the parade route.

In Fremont style, many of the art ensembles in the parade have a message to send. Here, the Ice Queens remind the crowd that ice reserves are melting fast.

And the “Bag Monster Brigade” illustrated how plastic bags and bottles are “an ocean of a problem” for the environment.

We’ll be posting more parade photos here soon (yes, the bikers, too), as well as coverage from the rest of the Fremont Fair.

Forecasters say we should expect cloudy skies and “spotty showers” today, with an increasing chance as the day goes on. Sure, we’ve been a little spoiled lately, but by Seattle standards that’s good weather for the weekend. We’re headed down to the parade, and stay tuned a little later in the afternoon for our first batch of photos. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter here and see what everyone else is Tweeting about Fremont right here.

The parade is just the beginning — this year’s Fremont Fair is jam-packed with entertaining musical acts and events. And don’t forget proceeds from the fair support Solid Ground, so it’s all for a good cause.

There are 30 bands and musicians scheduled across Saturday and Sunday, including Paula Maya, the Radio Nationals and Carrie Clark & The Lonesome Lovers (pictured). And we can’t help but mention the band Stay Tuned, “the world’s only rock tribute to television, performing classic TV themes like you’ve never heard them before.” They’re playing Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at the Waterfront Stage. Full musical lineup here.

One of the more popular events is the Seattle Artcar Blowout, dozens of art-decorated cars in the Upper Burke Building parking lot on 35th St. “It’s public art available on the road and not in private galleries,” explains local artist Kelly Lyles. The event runs all weekend. (Photo from Holy Outlaw)

On both Saturday and Sunday, you can catch a sneak peak of Balagan Theatre’s production of Taming of the Shrew, 10:30 am in Canal Park. Saturday at 3:30 p.m., On The Double (dutch), an adult double dutch team, will perform on the Waterfront Stage. At 4 p.m., the Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team will perform at the corner of 34th and Phinney. Sunday at 1 p.m., five-time world rope jumping artist and Cirque Du Soleil performer Rene Bibaud shares her freestyle routine on the Waterfront stage. Full event schedule here.

Fremont’s biggest bash is hours away.  The annual Solstice Parade kicks off at 36th and 3rd beginning at noon tomorrow (Saturday). Here’s the route:

And here’s the official program (.pdf file). The forecast is mostly cloudy with some showers, but expect BIG crowds as always. Parking in the neighborhood is typically very difficult, so if you’re driving, get there early. Then wait for the 200 or so naked painted bicyclists to kick things off — the parade’s most popular event — followed by “Phoenix Rising,” this year’s theme float with a firebird rising out of the ashes.

Scene from last year’s parade. Stay tuned for coverage of the parade and the Fremont Fair throughout the weekend right here on Fremont Universe.

The 38th annual Fremont Fair is upon us, June 20th and 21st, and any Fremont residents who have lived through one of these weekends knows what a great party this is, and how many people crowd into Fremont to celebrate our quirky neighborhood and the Summer Solstice.  But, did you also know that the Fremont Fair is the largest fundraiser of the year for Solid Ground?

From the Fremont Fair’s website:

And while Fremont Fair continues to emphasize good times, don’t forget about the good work it does by raising awareness and understanding of the needs of low-income people in our community.  Produced by The Workshop, benefiting the programs of Solid Ground, all donations received during this FREE event go directly to fund their programs that provide shelter, food, advocacy and care for low-income families and individuals throughout Seattle and King County.

The Fremont Fair is driven by volunteers like you, who want to have fun and make a diffenerence in your local community.  Kelly Ward, the volunteer coordinator over at Solid Ground, sends along this note:

We still need lots of volunteers to be greeters at the fair entrances.  Every year we raise around $36,000 at the fair and this is largely because we have smiling, happy volunteers at each gate to say hello and thank people for coming.  Shifts range from 2.5 - 4 hours on June 20th and 21st.  You can read more about volunteering at the fair and sign up for a shift at: http://www.fremontfair.org/volunteer

So head on over and become a part of making this year’s Fremont Fair happen!  You’ll have a great time, and help address the issues of food and shelter for our neighbors who need you.