The Seafair Torchlight Parade and 5K returned to the Seattle Waterfront on Saturday for the second straight year, and tens of thousands packed Alaskan Way to watch the event settle into its new home after leaving 4th Avenue.
The turnout gave the waterfront a festival feel from afternoon into evening. Event organizers said the crowd reached nearly 100,000 spectators in 2025, with people lining the sidewalks, filling reserved seating by Elliot Bay and stretching along the road where the parade and Torch Run 5K shared space.
The draw was not just the size of the crowd. The parade rolled past with pirates and their ship, an inflatable Blue Angel jet, high school band performances and dancing horses, a lineup that kept families watching from start to finish. For some, the setting itself was part of the appeal. Ed Moore said the waterfront gave the floats more room than 4th Avenue, where they had to be lowered and raised repeatedly. Cecelia Phillips said she loved the waterfront and felt the setup made better use of the space. Her family started setting up at 7 a.m. on Saturday and finished the final touches by 3 p.m., laying out carpets, couches, chairs, tables, lamps, a grill and even a ceiling fan.
That kind of setup speaks to what has changed and what has not. The parade may now run along the Seattle Waterfront, but it still works because people treat it like a fixed summer ritual. Phillips said the same families come back year after year, while Chris Cruis, who came from Puyallup with his wife and two young kids near Pier 66, said his mother used to bring him and his sisters to watch the pirates and the clowns. He said he hoped to keep that tradition going with his own children.
The move from 4th Avenue remains the one unresolved question around the event, even as the waterfront format appears to have won over many attendees. Some longtime spectators may still miss the older route, but Saturday’s crowd suggested the new layout has enough space, visibility and room for the 5K to keep growing. Keyth Sokol said the run let him take part in the middle of the festivities, with supporters lining the route as the race went up Alaskan Way and then down Elliot Avenue.
For now, the answer is straightforward: the parade has made the waterfront change stick, and the size of the crowd suggests Seattle is treating it less like a relocation than a new tradition.
