Bite of Seattle drew tens of thousands to the Seattle Waterfront on Saturday as the Seafair Torchlight Parade and 5K returned there for a second straight year. The move away from 4th Avenue has become part of the event’s own rhythm.
Event organizers said the parade drew nearly 100,000 spectators in 2025. The crowd lined Alaskan Way, with sidewalks and reserved seating filled by Elliot Bay as the parade and the Seafair 5K Torch Run moved through the waterfront route.
Seattle Waterfront and Alaskan Way
The waterfront route gave the parade more room to spread out. Ed Moore said, "The floats, it's better here because on 4th [Avenue] they were always having to pull them down, put them up, pull them down, put them up, and now there’s a lot more open space,"
Cecelia Phillips said, "I love it, I love the waterfront, it's so amazing and all of the new stuff down here" She also said, "And just the way it's set up, I really like; it feels like we’re really utilizing that space more,"
Cecelia Phillips and the Phillips
The Phillips family treated the sidewalk like a living room, starting setup at 7 a.m. and finishing the final touches by 3 p.m. They brought carpets, couches, chairs, tables, lamps, a grill, and a ceiling fan onto the sidewalk.
Phillips called it a family tradition, saying, "It’s just a fun family tradition because we get to get the same families together; it’s the same people every year, and we put a lot of work into setting it up," The family also noticed passersby, with Phillips saying, "There have been a ton of people this year who have walked by and been like ‘Hey neighbor!’ and it's like people who live in the apartments,"
Chris Cruis and Keyth Sokol
Chris Cruis from Puyallup watched near Pier 66 with his wife and children. He said, "My mom used to bring my sisters and me down here, and we used to watch the pirates and the clowns," and added, "Hopefully the kids enjoy it, you know, and it’s something we can do every year,"
Keyth Sokol ran in the Torch Run 5K up Alaskan Way and then down Elliot Avenue. Sokol said, "I love to run, so what better way to do it, what better way to participate right in the middle of it," and added, "There’s a ton of people supporting you and waving you on that didn’t even know there’s a run going on,"
The parade featured pirates, an inflatable Blue Angel jet, high school band performances, and dancing horses. This year’s crowd showed the waterfront route can handle the tradition without shrinking the spectacle, and the unanswered question is how many people will be counted in the final total after Saturday’s turnout.
