Seattle Center, Music, over 250 people, alot of cops and an open carrier.

Got a day off so we went to Seattle Center today, open carry as usual. We parked at Union park, took the Seattle Street car train thing to West lake center then rode the monorail to the seattle center. We scored, I didnt know it was the 50th anniversary of the Seattle fair. Of course we stopped in at the center and used the restrooms and walked past a few men in blue, light blue really, then WOW, about 15 men in dark blue. I know one light blue guy saw my firearm dont think any of the rest of them noticed. Dont know? Anyway, lots of good food, and we turned a corner and I heard it, really loud Elvis tunes. We walked up to the grassy area and there he was, young Elvis. Cool, for a few seconds then I started thinking: "I just walked into a mess a $h!t, I am armed at an outdoor music festival. I got pretty hypersensative and covered up. I looked around and saw a dark blue to my left on bike, a group of three light blues coming up behind him on foot, and a group of 7 dark blues on my right coming down the sidewalk". I kept thinking about [h=3]70.108.150
Firearms — Penalty.[/h]
*** CHANGE IN 2012 *** (SEE

6095.SL) ***

It shall be unlawful for any person, except law enforcement officers, to carry, transport or convey, or to have in his possession or under his control any firearm while on the site of an outdoor music festival.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars and not more than two hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than ten days and not more than ninety days or by both such fine and imprisonment.
[1972 ex.s. c 123 § 5.]

Then after we started walking away I started wondering how far away do I have to be before I am no longer at this music festival? Am I still at it if I can hear it? I didnt uncover until I got back to the monorail to go home. Funny how long the hairs on the back of you neck stay standing up when your among 20 or so police officers.

What gave you the idea you were at a music festival?

There was music and it seemed very festive.

RCW 70.108.020 wrote:For the purposes of this chapter the following words and phrases shall have the indicated meanings:

(1) "Outdoor music festival" or "music festival" or "festival" means an assembly of persons gathered primarily for outdoor, live or recorded musical entertainment, where the predicted attendance is two thousand persons or more and where the duration of the program is five hours or longer: PROVIDED, That this definition shall not be applied to any regularly established permanent place of worship, stadium, athletic field, arena, auditorium, coliseum, or other similar permanently established places of assembly for assemblies which do not exceed by more than two hundred fifty people the maximum seating capacity of the structure where the assembly is held: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That this definition shall not apply to government sponsored fairs held on regularly established fairgrounds nor to assemblies required to be licensed under other laws or regulations of the state.
Has this been repealed?

I was only there for two hours but I'm pretty sure the 11am to 9pm went over 5 hours, and there is alway music playing somewhere outside, and although I didnt count "everyone" I would bet there was well over 2000 people in attendance.

Looks Like A FOOD Festival http://www.comcastbiteofseattle.com/

http://clerk.seattle.gov/~public/meetingrecords/2012/luc20120605_2a.pdf
The 2012-14 Bite of Seattle agreement includes few changes from the previous agreement. There are minor changes in financial terms regarding the percentage of food and beverage sales and vendor booth fees, the impact of which is expected to be a wash. Seattle Center has negotiated broader rights to enter into campuswide exclusive sponsorship agreements, as part of the Center’s overall strategy to increase sponsorship revenue. As advised by the Law Department, based on recent judicial decisions, we are no longer including language requiring Festivals, Inc. to implement a policy prohibiting the possession of firearms at the Bite of Seattle.

Outdoor music festival...think Woodstock...that is where that came from.

For the purposes of this chapter the following words and phrases shall have the indicated meanings:

(1) "Outdoor music festival" or "music festival" or "festival" means an assembly of persons gathered primarily for outdoor, live or recorded musical entertainment,
where the predicted attendance is two thousand persons or more
and where the duration of the program is five hours or longer: PROVIDED, That this definition shall not be applied to any regularly established permanent place of worship, stadium, athletic field, arena, auditorium, coliseum, or other similar permanently established places of assembly for assemblies which do not exceed by more than two hundred fifty people the maximum seating capacity of the structure where the assembly is held:
PROVIDED, FURTHER, That this definition shall not apply to government sponsored fairs held on regularly established fairgrounds nor to assemblies required to be licensed under other laws or regulations of the state.

Click to expand...

One must apply the definition of what a Music Festival is;
You stated it was in celebration of the Seattle World Fair and does not fit "gathered primarily for outdoor, live or recorded musical entertainment"
Now we have it shall not be applied to any regularly established permanent place .....arena, auditorium.... or similary permanently established places of assembly ....

If you walked into the middle of all this without purchasing a ticket, standing in line to be allowed in, or otherwise queued up, in my opinion you are traveling the public streets in a public manner and are not in the wrong to OC or CC as you chose, not in accordance with any statute about a music festival.

I just got back from there and was OC the entire time. Walked around with the fiancé and a couple of friends for almost two hours with no LEO interactions.

Tacitus42 said:

http://clerk.seattle.gov/~public/meetingrecords/2012/luc20120605_2a.pdf
The 2012-14 Bite of Seattle agreement includes few changes from the previous agreement. There are minor changes in financial terms regarding the percentage of food and beverage sales and vendor booth fees, the impact of which is expected to be a wash. Seattle Center has negotiated broader rights to enter into campuswide exclusive sponsorship agreements, as part of the Center’s overall strategy to increase sponsorship revenue. As advised by the Law Department, based on recent judicial decisions, we are no longer including language requiring Festivals, Inc. to implement a policy prohibiting the possession of firearms at the Bite of Seattle.

Click to expand...

Sweet! So there were none of those big No Firearms signs at every entrance?

I had no interactions while walking around open carry for about 45 minutes, I just got hypersensitive. They had me outnumbered and they had backup, I did not. I didnt want to become a statistic. I guess I shouldnt have worried, we all know how well versed and receptive they are to open carry and the law. All in all it was a good day, until the music I didnt even think twice about walking amongst all the the men in blue.