Announced tonight by the West Seattle Junction Association, the music lineup is out for West Seattle Summer Fest 2018, now just two months away, July 13-15!

Music is once again taking center stage with a stellar lineup that includes some of the best bands in the Northwest. Big names for this event also include Kinski, Dude York, Spesh, and The Black Tones.

West Seattle’s Ben Jenkins and Troy Nelson, co-founders of Killroom Records, booked the event lineup and had this to say: “We had a lot of fun rounding up the artists for West Seattle Summer Fest 2018. Showcasing artists that are making a significant impact in our city is something we focused heavily on this year. We also wanted to represent all genres from our vibrant music scene. We’re excited to see this lineup come together!”

In addition to the headliners, festival goers can catch more than 20 artists performing on the California main stage Friday through Sunday. The diverse lineup includes artists like Mirrorgloss, Dusty 45s, HYWAYS, Trick Candles and Versing.

This FREE 3-day party in the streets celebrates West Seattle as a thriving music and arts community.
Sidewalk cafes, shopping, Gaming Tents, GreenLife, kids’ rides, and a beer garden next to the festival
stage, means there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

Find lots of festival info on the official Summer Fest website. As usual, we’re a co-sponsor, so we look forward to seeing you at West Seattle’s biggest party of the year!

(WSB photo from Summer Fest 2016 – community tabling at the Info Booth)

On this chilly spring day (38 degrees as we type), let’s talk summer! Less than four months to go until West Seattle Summer Fest 2018. And now’s the time for nonprofits and community groups to make their move to be part of it. Three ways, according to the West Seattle Junction Association, which presents Summer Fest – apply ASAP:

*Community tabling FREE! Deadline May 19th. (Apply here)

*Green Life, for nonprofits who are focused on sustainability and conservation, in the Green Life area (Junction Plaza Park & Alaska). $75 for all three days. Deadline May 19th. (Apply here)

*Summer Fest main festival, for nonprofits who wish to be in the main vendor row – $350 for all three days. Deadline extended through March 28th. (Apply here)

This year’s Summer Fest dates are July 13, 14, and 15.

Two months have gone by since we brought you first word of Sub Pop Records‘ plan for a huge 30th-birthday party at Alki Beach. The August 11th bash is still five months out, but it’s time to talk about it – if you have questions, Sub Pop wants to hear them, and will be at two community groups’ regular March meetings next week for exactly that purpose. The announcement:

Sub Pop Records is celebrating its 30th Anniversary of putting out somewhat well-regarded records, CDs, and tapes. In honor of that, we are hosting an entirely FREE music festival at Alki Beach on August 11th, 2018.

We are expecting a large, fun-loving, and respectable crowd of 30,000 music lovers. Our event will include: 4 stages of live music, beer gardens, merch booths and non-profit tables, and a family-friendly area complete with inflatables, food trucks, and live music for, and perhaps by, kids. This festival will take place from noon to 10 pm along Alki Avenue SW.

Sub Pop will be answering questions regarding all of this at two upcoming neighborhood-association meetings:

Admiral Neighborhood Association:
March 13th, 7 pm at the Sanctuary at Admiral – 2656 42nd Ave SW.

Alki Community Council:
March 15th, 7 pm at Alki UCC – 6115 SW Hinds St.

One question we can answer … no, the band lineup hasn’t been announced. Yet.

This dim time of year, we’ll take any excuse to show a sunny summertime photo. Above, that’s part of the Alki Beach seawall crowd that awaited the Seafair Pirates’ Landing last July. The date is set for this year, and applications are open for vendors. From event producers:

Seattle Seafair Pirates Landing – Saturday, July 7, 2018

The Seattle Seafair Pirates Landing is seeking the following:

• Vendors with pirate/nautical/maritime themed art, crafts, and products who would like to vend at the landing
• Face painters, psychics, henna artists, etc. who would like to provide services to event attendees
• Food trucks to feed the hungry pirate masses
• Commercial/merchant sponsors who want to show their support for our Seafair Pirate community
• Nonprofits interested in providing a pirate/nautical/maritime-themed kids activity in exchange for complimentary booth or tabling space

If any of that interests you – here’s where to go. (And in case you missed it last month … it’s application time for West Seattle Summer Fest, too.)

(July 2017 Summer Fest early-evening photo by Paul Weatherman)

One month into winter … we have another look ahead to summer! The West Seattle Junction Association is planning the peninsula’s biggest party of the year, Summer Fest 2018 – now less than six months away – and wants to let everyone in the community know that applications are open for:

*Vending – apply here
*Food – apply here
*Performing – apply here
*Sponsorships – apply here
*GreenLife sustainability expo – apply here
*Pet Junction – apply here
*Free community-partnership booth – apply here

(Each of those links also includes qualifications/description info.) The dates for this year’s West Seattle Summer Fest are July 13, 14, and 15, in the street, in The Junction, as always!

P.S. In other big-Junction-event news, the date for the second Wine Walk will be May 18th, and we’re told tickets will be on sale soon.

(Photo by Leda Costa for WSB)

If you were part of Sunday’s West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival – here are three numbers that reiterate that it rocked:

From Lora Swift at the West Seattle Junction Association – 35 community businesses, groups, and nonprofits donated time and materials for free games and activities. … Almost 300 root-beer floats were served up by The Beer Junction in the first-ever Root Beer Garden … and the biggest number of all is from the Chili Cookoff:

From Judi Yazzolino of the West Seattle Food Bank:

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off to taste the delicious chili at the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival on Sunday. All proceeds went to the West Seattle Food Bank, and what a success – we raised $3,146 from the tastings and $160 from the Beer Junction Root Beer Float Garden tips. We’d really like to extend a special thanks to the nine establishments who not only donated their fabulous chili but their time serving it: Brookdale Senior Living, Duos Catering, Easy Street Café, Elliott Bay Brewery, Fresh Bistro, Girls Gone BBQ, Husky Deli, Pecos Pit, and The Westy. Congratulations to Joshua & Benjamin from Duos Catering for being our 2017 winner by a landslide!

See our as-it-happened festival coverage, with video and photos, here.

(TRAFFIC/TRANSIT INFO: California is closed between Oregon and Edmunds … bus reroutes are linked here … festival schedule is here)

(Updated WSB photo – Root Beer Garden got busy a little while after our original photo)

FIRST REPORT, 10:08 AM: That’s the first-ever West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival Root Beer Garden – on the west side of the California/Alaska intersection. The festival has just begun, and continues until 2 pm, and our as-it-happens coverage starts now! Here are the key schedule points:

From 10 am to 2 pm: Free activities/games (mostly on California between Alaska and Edmunds)
From 10 am to 2 pm: Farmers’ Market (on California between Oregon and Alaska)
Starting at 11 am: Applepalooza at Farmers’ Market booth on east side of California/Alaska
Starting at 11 am: Chili Cookoff ($10 for 9 tastes & voting) on SW corner of California/Alaska
Starting at 11:30 am: Costume Parade (gather at Junction Plaza Park, 42nd/Alaska)
Starting at noon: Trick-or-treating (Junction businesses, some festival booths)

10:30 AM UPDATE: If you’re looking for the Scavenger Hunt, find it at the Farmers’ Market management booth on California south of Oregon. That’s a popular question here in the Info Booth in the midst of Walk-All-Ways. Just south of us, games are on – here’s Dave McCoy from Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor – their shop is at 42nd/Oregon) with the fishing game:

Next to EWA, you can jump with RopeWorks:

One of the most popular booths – Seattle Police crime prevention coordinators, with “button making machine, Halloween ring toss, SPD coloring books and many free goodies for children and adults!”

They’re about midway down the east side of the south block of California. And if you head over to the park (42nd/Alaska), you can make a music/rhythm instrument to get ready for the 11:30 am costume parade!

11:11 AM: The Chili Cookoff is on! KeyBank corner of California/Alaska, go buy your flight before the chili’s gone!

Your $10 gets you a vote (who will win? big trophy this year!) and 9 tastes AND knowledge you helped the West Seattle Food Bank. Meanwhile, we are seeing some amazing costumes – and the parade hasn’t even started yet! Family costumes too – like parents as chefs and their wee ones as lobsters.

And a young astronaut!

Almost parade time – we hear the West Seattle High School Marching Band warming up to lead it.

11:50 AM: After 20 minutes, the parade has ended, after circling the festival blocks. Above, the start – that’s Jim Edwards from the West Seattle Grand Parade (and West Seattle Big Band) leading the parade on his motorcycle. Below, some of the paraders on the southbound march:

(Added – More video from the parade:)

Next, trick or treat time at businesses and booths, starting at noon. Meantime, the chili is going fast – might be gone before the scheduled 1 pm cutoff.

12:14 PM: Candy collection is happening, big time.

(Above, rock ‘n’ roll trick-or-treating at Thunder Road Guitars [WSB sponsor]; below, trick-or-treating at Bikram Yoga)

And Lora Swift from the West Seattle Junction Association – the merchants’ organization that presents the festival – says the chili is sold out, 225 trays gone in just a little more than an hour! We’ll find out a bit later who won the vote.

12:52 PM: The results are in! Chili winners –

#1 Duos Catering (64 votes)
#2 Pecos Pit (35 votes)
#3 Easy Street (26 votes)

(Photo added below – from left, Joshua from Duos, Judi from WSFB, Benjamin from Duos, Lora from the Junction Association:)

Congratulations, especially to the WSFB, whose clients benefit from the participants’ donation of chili and the 225 tasters/voters!

1:09 PM: Last hour and the sun is starting to break through! Perhaps because the Comerford School of Irish Dance is performing just south of us in the Walk-All-Ways intersection:

Meantime, the costume-watching continues, including canine costumes:

Though there’s no gate for an official count, we would have to say anecdotally that this is the most-attended Harvest Festival yet!

1:36 PM: If you’re just getting here – we can’t guarantee you candy (the Info Booth folks sharing this tent have run out) but activities continue until the end. We’ve added a few more photos above and below. The crowd’s thinned a bit – maybe since the Seahawks’ game has started.

Among those with activity booths – the Junction Neighborhood Organization:

If you live and/or work in The Junction, that’s your community council.

1:52 PM: Final minutes. Soon, this’ll be history …

We’ll have even more photos later, including more from the chili trophy presentation. And stay tuned for the Junction Association’s big winter-holidays events, including the Tree Lighting on December 2nd!

ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: More unique costumes. Edward Scissorhands made an appearance:

Willy Wonka was in the WSHS Band:

An aspiring band member:

We found a family of volcanologists:

And a family of recyclers:

R2D2 was not someone in costume – it’s a real replica that has an Instagram page:

ADDED LATE SUNDAY NIGHT: One more round of photos ahead – these are by Leda Costa for WSB:

Read More

(WSB file photo)

Just hours until our area’s biggest fall fun at the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, 10 am-2 pm Sunday. Here’s what you need to know:

STREET CLOSURES: The festival closes an extra block of California SW, which will be off-limits to motorized vehicles between SW Edmunds and SW Oregon from early Sunday morning until late Sunday afternoon, as will SW Alaska between 44th and 42nd.

WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: Yes, it’s part of the festival, in its usual spot on California north of SW Alaska, usual time, 10 am-2 pm. The market includes Applepalooza – taste fall’s fave fruit, starting at 11 am, plus a scavenger hunt.

HARVEST ACTIVITIES: You’ll find most of these on California south of Alaska, *free* fun presented by more than 30 organizations and businesses during the entire duration of the festival. (See the long list of activities here!)

ROOT BEER GARDEN: Bring $3.50 if you want to try a 16-ounce root beer with Husky Deli ice cream – Easy Street corner of California/Alaska.

CHILI COOKOFF: Nine venues are competing for this year’s title – bring $10 to buy your flight of a taste from each starting at 11 am at the KeyBank corner of California/Alaska, and you’ll get to vote on who you think should win! The money goes to the West Seattle Food Bank.

COSTUME PARADE: Gather at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) before 11:30 am (you can make a musical instrument there starting at 10) and follow the West Seattle High School Marching Band around the festival grounds!

TRICK-OR-TREATING: Businesses will have treats starting at noon – some of the booths, too.

WHAT’S NEW – IRISH DANCING: Late addition to the program, Celtic Arts Northwest will perform at California/Alaska at 1 pm. (That’s where we’ll be throughout the festival, with as-it-happens coverage … see you there!)

(2016 Harvest Festival photo by Leda Costa for WSB)

Of all the fun stuff in the WSB Halloween (Etc.) Guide – the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival is the biggest (just look at all these photos from last year!), and it’s now just five days away (10 am-2 pm Sunday, October 29th).

Some notes as it gets closer:

*Can you volunteer? Lora Swift of the West Seattle Junction Association – which presents the festival – says, “We’re still hoping to fill a couple volunteer slots at the kids’ music tables and the Farmers’ Market Applepalooza.” Here’s how to sign up.

*Planning to be part of the costume parade (11:30 am)? Make maracas or a music box at Junction Plaza Park (also the parade starting point, NW corner of 42nd/Alaska) first – 10 am-11:30 am.

*Four of the nine competitors in this year’s Chili Cookoff (the West Seattle Food Bank benefits from your $10 for 9 tastes, and you get to vote for the winner – KeyBank corner of California/Alaska starting at 11 am) are new – Duos Catering, Pecos Pit BBQ (WSB sponsor), Girls Gone BBQ, and Fresh Bistro. They’re going up against defending champs The Westy Sports and Spirits (WSB sponsor) and return competitors Easy Street Café, Elliott Bay Brewing Company, Husky Deli, and Brookdale Senior Living.

The festival starts with the Farmers’ Market in its usual mid-street spot and other local businesses and organizations offering free fun activities on California, which will also be closed to traffic, south of Alaska – see the list on the WSJA website. Business and booth trick-or-treating starts after the costume parade, at noon. And don’t miss the Root Beer Garden on the Easy Street corner of California/Alaska!

WSB is a co-sponsor of the Harvest Festival – see you in The Junction on Sunday. Weather looks dry.

One of the freshest things at today’s West Seattle Farmers’ Market was the sign being created to remind everyone that next week’s WSFM will be part of the 2017 West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival! It’s a market and much more – 10 am-2 pm Sunday, October 29th: For one, the street closure for that day only will extend south to Edmunds, and the extra block will feature local businesses and organizations offering FREE harvest-themed games and activities, starting right at 10. (The list of activities is on the West Seattle Junction Association website.) Then:

11 am – Chili cookoff at the KeyBank corner of California/Alaska ($10 donation for the West Seattle Food Bank gets you a flight of tastes from all 9 chili competitors, and the chance to vote for your favorite)

11:30 am – Costume parade starting from Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska), led by the West Seattle High School Marching Band, heading west into, and then around, the festival – everyone’s welcome to participate!

Noon – Business and booth trick-or-treating

New at the festival: A root-beer garden (California/Alaska, by Easy Street Records) – $3.50 for root beer (from The Beer Junction) topped with vanilla ice cream (from Husky Deli) and Applepalooza as part of the market.

WSB is a co-sponsor of the Harvest Festival and we look forward to seeing you in The Junction next Sunday!

No Seahawks this Sunday since it’s a bye week, but you have two fall festivals to visit in West Seattle!

We’ve already previewed the longrunning Fauntleroy Fall Festival (2-5 pm), and this year you can start your afternoon at Forest Lawn (WSB sponsor), which invites you to its Fall Festival from noon-3 pm.

This festival promises “hay ride, face painting, balloon artist, pumpkin decorating, photo booth, caramel apples & popcorn, giant games for kids.” Most of the activities will be in the parking lot outside Forest Lawn’s main building at 6701 30th SW [map] across from the cemetery; the hay rides will go around the cemetery.

All free!

It’s outdoor and indoor fun at this year’s WestFest, continuing until 10 tonight at Holy Rosary School – outside, there’s a full lineup of stage entertainment (see it in our morning lineup); when we stopped by a little while ago, the talent contest was just wrapping up, with a group dancing to “YMCA.” Steps away are the kid rides, including a bouncy slide:

Also a beer garden for the grownups and a food court for everyone, with wings, Caesar salad, burgers and hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy, even angel cakes. If you go inside the school, you’ll find the book sale and bingo – someone had just won the game that was being played when we walked in:

You’ll find a climbing wall, too, in the main festival zone on the north side of the campus, which is along 42nd SW between Dakota and Genesee.

(WSB photo)

That’s the trophy that’ll go to the winner – chosen by you! – in the Chili Cookoff at this year’s West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival, coming up Sunday, October 29th, 10 am-2 pm. We published the call for entries last week, and today, Junction Association executive director Lora Swift tells us the competition lineup is set – here’s the list she sent:

Elliott Bay Brewing Company
Husky Deli
Easy Street Café
Brookdale Senior Living
The Westy Sports and Spirits (WSB sponsor)
Duos Lounge
Pecos Pit (WSB sponsor)
Girls Gone BBQ
Fresh Bistro

The Westy is the defending champ. The Chili Cookoff raises money for the West Seattle Food Bank – you get to vote by buying a flight for $10 (that includes samples from all nine participant) and voting for your favorite. It’ll start at 11 am on festival day, on the KeyBank (southwest) corner of California/Alaska, and continues while supplies last,

P.S. The rest of the festival lineup is finalized too, and we’ve added it to our calendar listing – go there for a sneak peek!

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)

Didn’t get to the Arts in Nature Festival on Saturday – or did, but didn’t experience everything? Day 2 still has more than four hours to go, and Camp Long‘s cool forests and cabins await, as well as the sunny meadow where you’ll see the fish – part of a youth-art project about the Duwamish River. In our Saturday coverage, we spotlighted “Dream Hatching,” the “nest” you can add to – here’s how it’s grown:

Another chance to envision and hope for the future is at Cabin 9 (here’s the full list of cabin installations – these are in the cabins otherwise available for overnight camping), with Alyssa Anne and Wynn Adele‘s “Fertile Ground”:

And music continues throughout the afternoon. Ky Burt opened the day on the Nancy Stage outdoors:

The schedule also includes the lineup for performances inside Camp Long’s historic lodge, and by the park’s pond. There’s also a beer garden (presented by premier event producers Monumental Undertaking), food trucks, and more. The festival continues until 6 pm; it’s presented by DNDA/Nature Consortium, with co-sponsors including WSB.