More than 200 artists take over 20 blocks of downtown Seattle on Saturday, Sept. 19, for the free WALKDONTRUN art walk marathon. The event returns for its second year.

The 3-kilometer route runs from Westlake Park down Pike Street, along Second Avenue to Cherry Street and ends at Occidental Square.

Six zones open at staggered times between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., with overlap built in so visitors can wander the full course.

Last year's inaugural event drew more than 5,000 people, and lead producer Kira Burge told The Seattle Times she expects a similar turnout.

"You kept walking one more block and discovering a painter, a band you'd never heard … It was magical," Burge said of the 2025 event.

New this year is a dedicated kids' launch at Westlake Park from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Seattle's Child reported the lineup includes face painting by Doodle Girls Face Art, a walk-through camera obscura, a performance by Aurora Flux (billed as the "clown oracle") and live music from the Phinney Ridge Steel Band.

One station lets kids build a googly-eyed sculpture modeled on Seattle's Hammering Man.

The grown-up highlights stretch across the route. On Pike Street near Pike Place Market, musicians play rock, blues, jazz and samba. Marshall Hugh, frontman of the Marshall Law Band, curated the music lineup.

Outside Benaroya Hall, the Seattle Symphony's brass quintet performs in the Garden of Remembrance alongside "Cascade of Light," a collection of colorful ceramic vessels by Seattle artist Ling Chun.

On Cherry Street in Pioneer Square, more than 60 dancers from Undercurrent will roll into each other at a glacial pace, catching one another before they fall.

The slow-motion performance runs over two hours. Some audience members who watched last year's version are now among the dancers, according to co-founder and co-artistic director Hilary Grumman.

Passersby will also find "Inconvenience Store," a pop-up exhibition and actual store inside Parnassus at Third Avenue and Pine Street displaying handmade, reimagined versions of everyday household items.

Nearly all activities take place outdoors.

WALKDONTRUN is funded by Seattle's Office of Arts and Culture, the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and individual donors. The funding pays artists for their work.

The event also opens Seattle Art + Culture Week, which the Seattle Times reported runs Sept. 19–27 and brings free or discounted performances, concerts, art shows and film screenings to eight Seattle neighborhoods.

After last year's event, one attendee said in a survey they hadn't visited downtown since 2019. Another said they "fell back in love with the city."

The 2026 route opens at 11 a.m. Saturday at Westlake Park.