One of the city’s most prominent attractions, Seattle Center is a 74-acre campus located just north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle.  Constructed originally for the Century 21 Exposition (World’s Fair) in 1962, it has long been a nerve center in Seattle for arts, entertainment, and education.

The Seattle Center is home to many of the city’s major performance venues, including Key Arena, Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, and Center House.  Many major Seattle performing arts organizations are based at Seattle Center venues, including the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and the Seattle International Film Festival.  Other attractions include the Pacific Science Center, the Experience Music Project, Seattle Children’s Museum, and the famed Space Needle. Many local festivals take place each year at the Seattle Center, including the Bumbershoot Festival, Northwest Folklife Festival, and Seattle Center Winterfest.

A series of sculptures and installations are located throughout the Center’s campus, as well as public gardens, fountains, shops, restaurants, a skatepark, and the Fun Forest amusement park, open during the summer months.  The Monorail (a highlight of the 1962 Exposition) carries more than a million passengers each year between the Center and downtown Seattle.