HOWB 133 – Interviews | Dick Wagner, Aislinn Palmer: 38th Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival and it’s History - 06.12.14

Today’s podcast is an interview with Dick Wagner – founder of the Center for Wooden Boats, and Aislinn Palmer – director of the 38th Annual Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival in Seattle, WA on July 4-6, 2014.

I peppered Dick with questions about how and why the very first festival was started in 1976, who attended, how many boats were there, did they intend to make it an annual event, and on and on. It was fascinating to hear why it’s always been July 4th weekend, how the toy boat project started, and concerns about the cost of having enough toilet paper for the festival

After talking with Dick, the conversation turned to Aislinn who grew up around boats in Maine, and has been directing the festival for 3 years. According to Aislinn, this year’s event will be quite different from the prior 2 years as the footprint of the festival will be smaller and more personal, and Seafair will have their venue separately.