Seattle Seahawks Owner Paul Allen Plotting SXSW Style Event In Seattle

Paul Allen might be best known for his business acumen or for his ownership of both the Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers, but the mogul is also a huge music fan. Allen has announced Upstream, a SXSW-like event in Seattle set to take place May 11 – 13, 2017.

As per The Stranger, the inaugural Upstream Music Fest + Summit will feature “three days of performances, exhibitions, and conference-style presentations dedicated to exposing and promoting the music and music economy of the Pacific NW, with special attention paid to the crossover between music and video games, tech, and film production.”

While full details have yet to be revealed, look for Upstream to present performances by more than 200 artists at over 25 venues in the Pioneer Square district. The event’s Executive Director Jeff Vetting says they aim to book 75% NW artists “with a strong emphasis on emerging talent.” Upstream organizers also intend to pay all artists. “I believe the time is right,” Vetting told The Stranger, “for a summit that focuses on colliding other industries such as tech, film, and video games with the music industry to spark new economic opportunities for our artists. Seattle is a natural hub for this because of our confluence of these industries and we feel there is a real need and opportunity for an artist-centric summit.”

The performance zone will be on one side of Century Link Field while the summit zone will be on the other side of the football stadium. Look for much more information to be revealed in the coming months.