At Seattle Center on Monday evening, the Winter Solstice Fire Festival lit up the grounds. Delayed for several weeks due to weather, the flames warmed the winter night.  Are these the fires that were denied Bumbershoot? (Ah, that now-forbidden closing ceremony! with Durkee and dancers and legerdemain! sigh…)

A little photo tour follows. First, ‘Fire Pod’ created by Mark “Buphalo” Tomkiewicz. The steel sculpture stands eleven feet high and is twenty feet in diameter. The flames are controlled through a midi interface. Eerie percussive sounds synch with bursts of flame.  Next, the fire-dance troupe Pyrosutra performs around the base of the fountain.

Flame on!

And afterwards, walking back to my car, a forlorn conjunction. We howl and dance against the dying of the light, but some just go gentle in the night.