West Seattle, Washington
14 Sunday
We’re just hours away from the 2017 Morgan Junction Community Festival, presented by the Morgan Community Association, 10 am-5 pm Saturday. We’ve already featured the entertainment and food (here), kids’ activities (here), and now, one more sneak peek – the vendors and community groups you’ll find at the festival:
The festival features more than 40 vendors – some new, many returning, who are mostly from West Seattle southern neighborhoods. They will be in the parking lots behind Zeeks Pizza and Beveridge Place Pub, and on Eddy Street. Handmade jewelry and crafts by local artisans make up the majority of for-sale items. A variety of commercial vendors will be there to provide information on their services and/or products. Community and local government organizations are eager to educate festival attendees about their activities and how interested citizens can get involved.
Morgan Junction Businesses
Super Supplements
Madrid Frame, LLC
Second Gear Sports
Good Med Direct Primary CareHandmade Jewelry/Crafts
Ginger Jewelry Design
Flying Feather Designs
Maureen’s Jewelry and Photographs
Penguina Designs
Beadz-N-Mor
Lia’s Jewelry and Art
Queen Beads
Snooter-doots
DabbaWalla Bags
Endolyne Children’s Choir – with a music-themed craft activity
The Community General Store
Nepenthe Massage and Boutique – on-site massage therapy
West Seattle Electric and Solar
West Seattle Chamber of Commerce
Seattle in ColorEdibles
Dolcetta Artisan Sweets – handcrafted chocolates, caramels
Italian Ices
Puddles Barkery – Homemade dog treatsMeals and Food Services
Smith Brothers Farms
Hello Fresh
Dream DinnersCommunity/Government Organizations
West Seattle Democratic Women
34th District Democrats – voter registration, community information, and outreach
Southwest Historical Society
Seattle Emergency Hubs – emergency preparedness
Seattle Public Library
West Seattle Food Bank
Westside Neighbors Network
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
West Seattle TimeBank
Urban Homestead FoundationAlso
Eldercare Consulting, LLC
Daystar Retirement Village
The Kenney
Church of the Nazarene – Morgan Junction
Hopelink – information on King County transportation options and resources
As always, we’re among the festival sponsors, and we’ll be at the festival and publishing updates throughout the day, so come say hi. It’s all happening on the west side of California SW, north of Fauntleroy Way, in and around Morgan Junction Park.
P.S. See the full schedule in the official festival program on the MoCA website.
As first shown during a community meeting two weeks ago (WSB coverage here), those are the three alternatives the city is considering for the north shore of Lowman Beach Park, where the seawall is failing. This Saturday, you have another chance to find out more about the problem and the city’s proposed solutions, during the Morgan Junction Community Festival this Saturday at Morgan Junction Park (west side of California SW, half-block north of Fauntleroy Way). Organizers tell us that Seattle Parks‘ point person on the project, David Graves, will be at the festival around 12:30 pm-1:30 pm to talk with festivalgoers and hear their thoughts on the Lowman Beach possibilities. More background is on the park’s website.
P.S. As for the rest of the festival, which runs 10 am-5 pm Saturday, here’s the program – and we’ll have another preview with new info later today (Thursday).
Thanks to the Morgan Community Association for the photo – its banners are up with days to go until the MoCA-presented Morgan Junction Community Festival this Saturday! It’s happening in and around Morgan Junction Park (west side of California SW half a block north of Fauntleroy Way), 10 am-5 pm on June 17th. We previewed the food and music earlier – today, the kids’ activities, as announced by MoCA:
Jennifer Young, owner of My Three Little Birds in the Morgan Junction, is coordinating the children’s activities.
Chief entertainment for the kids is The Bubbleman, of course. He begins his always-pleasing wild and colorful show at 10:30 am in Morgan Junction Park. Craft activities start at 10:00 at the north side of the park. Face painters and a balloon twister artist will be on hand between 10:00 and 2:30. (Sponsors for kid activities include Counseling West Seattle, O’Neill Plumbing, West Seattle Vision Clinic, Pillar Product Design Group, Peel & Press, and Daystar Retirement Village.) LuLu Cakes mini-cupcakes will be offered free from 12:30 to 1:30 in the kids activity area.
My Three Little Birds, O’Neill Plumbing, and Peel & Press are also WSB sponsors. And we’re among the festival co-sponsors, too. Find even more info in our calendar listing, and we’re expecting more before festival day, including vendor highlights. See you at the park!
West Seattle Summer Fest is just a little over one month away – Friday-Saturday, July 14-16, in the heart of The Junction. The one-sheet embedded above (PDF version here) is the official community notification that the West Seattle Junction Association-presented festival (with co-sponsors including WSB) is coming up. We’ve of course been looking ahead to it for a long time now, including first word of the music lineup in mid-May. Here’s the official festival poster:
Summer Fest is West Seattle’s biggest party of the year, in the heart of The Junction, in the middle of the street, from California SW north of Oregon (where you’ll find the main music stage and the beer garden) south to Edmunds, and SW Alaska on both sides of California. Be sure your calendar also sets aside Summer Fest Eve – Thursday night, July 13th – because as soon as the streets close for setup, it’s West Seattle Art Walk night and special pre-festival fun. Lots more festival info coming up in the days and weeks ahead – and watch westseattlefestival.com!
(WSB photo: Bubbleman at 2015 Morgan Junction festival)
The first big neighborhood festival of summer is now only eight days away – the Morgan Junction Community Festival, in and around Morgan Junction Park, on the west side of California SW just north of Fauntleroy Way, 10 am-5 pm on Saturday, June 17th, presented by the Morgan Community Association. Here are some entertainment and food highlights, from Susan Madrid with the festival-organizing committee:
The music kicks off with the Endolyne Children’s Choir at 10 am. Soyaya, featuring exciting African rhythms, performs at 11:15, right after the Bubbleman (10:30). Gary Benson, local solo guitarist, plays at 12:30. The Brian and Janie Show, rocking out with top 40 dance/pop hits and classics, comes on at 2:15. The music wraps up with Yesod, a three-piece eastern/western string and percussion ensemble, from 4:00 to 5:00.
Food offerings are:
The Tamale Guy, who was very well received last year. They will offer three different fillings, served with their excellent Mexican slaw.
Das Brat Wagen will grill up a variety of German style gourmet dogs, including two kid-friendly items.
Mini the Dough-Nut will be serving cooked-to-order doughnuts with traditional or create-your-own toppings.
Sweet Bumpas Ice Cream, our local ice cream guys, offer 100% homemade ice creams and sorbets with a creative and creamy touch. Flavors are inspired by the seasons and always have a special twist.
West Seattle Thriftway will be grilling burgers in front of the store from around 11 until 3. Proceeds from sales go to funding next year’s festival.
An Italian Ice cart will be set up behind Zeeks Pizza in the vendor area. The rest of the food vendors and eating area will be in the Beveridge Place Pub parking lot.
That’s just part of what you’ll find at the festival – we’ll have more previews next week!
West Seattle Summer Fest 2017 (with sponsors including WSB) is just five and a half weeks away, July 14-15-16. Two notes today:
VOLUNTEERS: West Seattle’s biggest party of the year needs volunteer power! If you can help – an orientation event is planned tomorrow night, 6 pm at the West Seattle Junction Association offices (4210 SW Oregon, above Shadowland). What kind of volunteer help is needed? WSJA’s Lora Swift replies, “The Summer Fest opportunities range from pre-festival activities like the SF street team – placing posters around West Seattle. I’m also looking for people who would like to write some content about the festival and bands. Maybe do some interviews. Before the festival, we’ll need help setting up. During we’ll need volunteers in the kids zone, info booth, sponsorship stewards. All kind of soft serve jobs, I want to make this a fun experience for the people who are giving their time.” You can sign up by going here.
BAND-LINEUP POSTER: We brought you first word of the Summer Fest band lineup back on May 17th. Today, WSJA is out with the official poster:
Here’s a YouTube playlist so you can get into the mood!
One more highlight from the big, bright weekend just past – 5 scenes from one of its biggest events, the fifth annual West Seattle Bee Festival! Co-organizer Karen Berge shared the photos. Above, that’s the hive demonstration with Lauren Englund, founder of the West Seattle Bee Garden, who first shared her dream here on WSB five years ago. The biggest bee at the festival was human-made:
The Big Bee led the kids-and-pets parade, a collaboration with High Point’s Vietnamese community, with coordination by Seattle Housing Authority‘s Thu Thai Duong.
The festival’s main organizer Deborah Vandermar, meantime, was instrumental in organizing a new activity – Pop-Up Sewing, inside Neighborhood House High Point:
Back outdoors, the Plant Swap “was amazing this year,” Karen reports. There are leftovers – if you are interested in free plants, they were left next to the bee enclosure in the Bee Garden and are yours for the taking, she says. And from the vendor and community-resource fair, West Seattle Be Prepared made preparedness education fun:
That’s Cindi Barker and the “Wheel of Misfortune.” So many more participants – you just had to be there! If you missed it, maybe next year … the sixth annual West Seattle Bee Festival is already taking shape. And you can visit the Bee Garden any time, on the north side of High Point Commons Park (here’s a map).
The first major festival of spring/summer is almost here! The West Seattle Bee Festival will turn High Point Commons Park and vicinity – including the West Seattle Bee Garden itself – into a hive of activity on Saturday starting at 10 am (after the 8:30 am Honey Run). In the top photo, that’s one of the organizers, Deborah Vandermar from the High Point Open Spaces Association, after she and co-organizer Karen Berge (who took the picture) put up the banner at Walking on Logs along the southwest end of the West Seattle Bridge.
A special aspect of the Bee Festival is that it’s educational as well as fun. Toward that end, don’t miss the hive demonstration at the Bee Garden on the north end of the park at noon. Yes, there are bees at the Bee Garden, and the woman whose dream it was, Lauren Englund, is their keeper. If the weather’s truly good on Saturday, she might even do a second demonstration, Karen tells us.
When you’re there, don’t miss what’s happening inside Neighborhood House High Point, on the south end of the park. Art and science activities for kids start with costume-making at 10 am for the parade at 11 am; artists Hosanna Tekle and Ellen Rivers will work with parade participants on costumes, and then host art activities in the afternoon. Also inside, Karen adds, “Non-kids can learn how to build a house for Mason Bees or bring favorite clothing items to Pop-Up Sewing and learn to repair them.” Deborah’s putting that together, Karen says, adding that Seattle Housing Authority‘s Asmeret Habte has been working on music, activities, and food – the latter is highlighted by a noon-1:30 pm international-finger-food buffet.
Environmental sustainability and organic gardening are big focuses too, and Karen has been organizing the Vendor Fair (11 am-2 pm) with participants from those areas, including the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association, Honeybee Conservancy, Tilth Alliance, Camp Long naturalists, Rent Mason Bees, P-Patch program, mobile farm stand ROAR, Nature Stewards/Weed Warriors, six businesses with bee-related products, and community-resource organizations including the West Seattle Timebank, West Seattle Food Bank, West Seattle Block Watch Captains Network, West Seattle Be Prepared, Nature Consortium, Neighborcare Health, SHA Family Self-Sufficiency Program … plus the Seattle Police Department (until ~12:30) and Seattle Fire Department (starting ~12:30) are planning to stop by.
The plant/seed/tool swap is on for 11 am-2 pm, too; if you have more flower/vegetable starts than you can use, bring them to the festival, along with extra seeds, garden tools, or related books. Here’s an overview of how the festival will be laid out:
Find even more festival information online, here!
(Thunderpussy’s 2016 KEXP performance)
Less than two months until the peninsula’s biggest party of the year – West Seattle Summer Fest, in the heart of The Junction, this year set for Friday-Sunday, July 14th-16th. And we’ve just received first word of this year’s music lineup – headlined on Night 1 by Thunderpussy (video above), on Night 2 by Brent Amaker and The Rodeo (video below), and wrapped up on Day 3 by The Dusty 45s.
(Brent Amaker and The Rodeo’s 2012 Seattle Channel/ArtZone performance)
Here’s the full lineup:
FRIDAY
3:30 – Po Boys
4:30 – Wiscon
5:30 – Dryland
6:30 – Hotels
7:30 – Sassy Black
8:30 – Purple Mane (Prince Tribute)
9:30 – DJ Kurt Bloch
10:00 – ThunderpussySATURDAY
1130 – School of Rock
12:30 – Wild Wild Mexico
1:30 – Lisa Prank
2:30 – Thee Sgt Major III
3:30 – The Gods Themselves
4:30 – Golden Gardens
5:30 – Genders
6:30 – Sisters
7:30 – CHARMS
8:30 – Porter Ray
9:30 – Vox Mod
10:00 – Brent Amaker & The RodeoSUNDAY
12:00 – South Sound Tug & Barge
1:00 – Mega Bog
2:00 – Swedish Finnish
3:00 – Carrie Akre & Danny Newcomb from Goodness
4:00 – Dusty 45’s
These are all the main-stage acts on the north end of the festival zone, between SW Oregon and SW Genesee. Summer Fest info continues to be rolled out on the official website – go here – so set your calendar for July 14-16! (WSB is a Summer Fest sponsor again this year.)
(Photo courtesy Seattle Chinese Garden)
“All is looking good for our festival this weekend,” Seattle Chinese Garden spokesperson Sandy Marvinney tells WSB, as they get ready for the rescheduled Peony and Bamboo Festival. “The garden should be at or close to full bloom this weekend!” The garden is at the north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus on Puget Ridge, and the festival is set to run 10 am-4 pm both days this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, May 6-7). Here’s the latest update on the blooms; here’s the festival flyer. $5 suggested donation for adults; all ages are welcome to visit. The lion dance at 11:30 am Saturday will be a highlight; other activities continue all weekend. You’re advised to check seattlechinesegarden.org before you go, in case of schedule updates.
(WSB file photo: West Seattle Bee Festival parade participants)
We’re continuing to count down to more of West Seattle’s awesome spring and summer events, and we are now just 3 weeks away from this year’s West Seattle Bee Festival, 10 am-3 pm Saturday, May 20th, at High Point Commons Park, home of the West Seattle Bee Garden, just north of HP Neighborhood House at 6400 Sylvan Way SW.
Before the festival, you’re invited to be part of the Honey Run at 8:30 am:
The Honey Run is a free, informal, fun run for all ages that takes place at High Point Commons Park. One lap around the park is 1K. Runners compete to see how many laps they can do, and in how short a time. The earlier start time will allow runners or walkers time to do more laps – last year, the parade was on their heels on the same course.
The kids’ and pets’ parade is at 11 am, after an hour of getting ready – face painting, dressing up as bees and flowers, etc. It will be led by the Big Bee, which organizers explain is “a huge puppet and drum inspired by the traditional dragon dance from Asia. The High Point Vietnamese community designed, built and will operate this exciting spectacle!”
Other West Seattle Bee Festival features:
*See, and learn more about, bees, with Puget Sound Beekeepers. Find out how you can help bees survive and thrive. (Hive demo at noon!)
*Music and food
*Street fair showcasing businesses, community groups, and organizations focusing on environmental sustainability, providing community resources, and/or helping support bees. The fair also includes a Plant/Seed/Tool Swap again this year – “bring your excess plants, seeds, or tools … and take home what you find!” It’ll be near the north end of the fair, which runs 11 am-2 pm.
*Unusual pollinators, presented by Woodland Park Zoo noon-2 pm (above, Jungle Nymph photographed last year)
*Art activities for kids with artist Kimisha Turner
Watch the Bee Festival webpage as the festival gets closer!
(Dance Brazil performers – WSB photo from 2016 Delridge Day)
Do something different this year … delight your West Seattle neighbors by helping make a festival happen! The community members who have been making Delridge Day happen each summer are looking for a new planning coordinator:
2017 could be the twelfth Delridge Day celebration, but it needs you! Yes, YOU!
Do you have a passion for the neighborhoods along the Delridge corridor? Have you enjoyed the Delridge Day celebrations in the past? Can you step up to take on the leadership needed to help this growing festival continue?
It is expected that a new leader will bring their own vision of what Delridge Day can be … but there is help, too. For example, the music coordinator has committed to continuing this year. Past organizers have built a network of contacts and action item lists for organizing Delridge Day, so a blueprint is in place.
A new leader should have commitment; great organizational skills; time to contact and follow up with participants to organize music, food, booths, and equipment; and the ability to build a team of volunteers to assist with the event. You will work with Parks and the city for permitting. Planning begins in January for the August event.
We’ve been fortunate over the years to have dedicated people step up to make this fun and growing event happen. Community doesn’t happen by accident … it takes people willing to build. We are only as strong as our relationships to each other.
First step – contact Nancy, even if you just have a question. She’s at n_folsom@msn.com.
The new year is still new … but it’s already time to look ahead to West Seattle Summer Fest 2017. This year’s dates are Friday-Sunday, July 14-16. Past vendors have already been invited to an earlybird registration period, and now it’s time for general vendor registration – deadline March 1st.
Here are the forms:
After checking out the forms, if you have questions, e-mail vendors@monumentalundertaking.com or call206-472-9928. And find lots more details on the West Seattle Junction Association website!
Were you at the West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival last Sunday? Maybe part of its bigger-than-ever Costume Parade (WSB video above) – or one of the spectators? Again this year, the parade’s unsung heroes were members of the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club. David Hillier shared the photos and report:
Members of the West Seattle Amateur Radio Club provided radio communications during the festival’s costume parade, with radio operators at strategic positions in the parade. Jim Edwards WS7JIM, led the parade on his motorcycle with installed radio gear. Ken AB7X and Adeline (16) AA7HH followed in the middle of the parade, while Dave AA7XX and Meredith (12) KG7EUM followed at the rear of the parade. Cora W7COR communicated with the members in the parade from home through the club’s repeater, helping with coordination. Radio communication helps Jim know how to pace the parade and provides an added element of safety.We in HAM radio love these events. It is a nice way to help out – and to be part of a fun event! Look us up online or go to the ARRL website if you think you might be interested in HAM radio.
P.S. As you can see in the photos of the parade volunteers, amateur radio is for all ages!
Photos by Leda Costa for West Seattle Blog
This year’s West Seattle Harvest Festival in The Junction was the biggest ever, and might have been even bigger if it hadn’t started to rain in the last hour.
Rain and all, it was a success, and we have one more round of photos to share – as well as an update from the Chili Cookoff that raised money for the West Seattle Food Bank:
As we reported in yesterday’s as-it-happened coverage, The Westy won – that’s JP Vidican at right, getting congratulated by past winner Jack Miller of Husky Deli. Judi Yazzolino from the Food Bank tells us the cookoff brought in almost $2,000 to help fight hunger.
Meantime, click ahead to see a new Harvest Festival gallery – the costumes, the activities, the pets, and more, as photographed by WSB’s Leda Costa: Read More
10 AM: It’s on! Joining the Farmers’ Market for the next four hours, it’s the 2016 West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival. Starting right now, on Alaska between 44th and 42nd, and on California south of the market, Alaska to Edmunds, local businesses, schools, and organizations are offering fun activities. Everything’s free except the Chili Cookoff starting at 11 am – a $10 donation gets you a taste of each of the eight competing chilis, plus a vote, and the money goes to the West Seattle Food Bank. Then at 11:30, it’s the costume parade from Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) around the festival/market zone, and at noon, business trick-or-treating begins. Explore the side-street businesses too – ReMAX, for example, has a noon-2 pm Haunted House on the NW corner of 44th/Alaska (that was canceled).
10:14 AM: Our first activity feature – “melting pumpkins” at the West Seattle Timebank booth. Here’s volunteer Cupcake, showing one off:
Thanks to Timebank leader Tamsen Spengler for the photo. The Timebank booth is on SW Alaska across from Twilight, which is just west of Easy Street. Go visit! We, meantime, are right in the heart of California/Alaska, and immediately west of us you’ll find free facepainting:
The costumes just might be the most-fun part of the festival every year. Even with more than an hour to go until the parade, many costumed people of all sizes are wandering. We’ve even seen Darth Vader (and survived the encounter):
This festivalgoer is costumed as cotton candy:
By the way, there’s free cotton candy (while it lasts) on SW Alaska by Easy Street.
11:07 AM: Chili time! That’s the number one question we’re being asked right now – where’s the chili? Answer: Look for the West Seattle Food Bank canopy right in front of KeyBank on the SW corner of California/Alaska. Here are the competitors:
Number two most popular question – where does the Costume Parade start? Junction Plaza Park is on the NW corner of 42nd/Alaska, and the parade will head west from there, starting at 11:30. Many awesome costumes this year. Check out Sharknado and friend:
11:44 AM: The parade is making its way through the festival. And this year it’s MASSIVE! Hundreds of people. Led by the West Seattle High School Band:
Here’s video from the start (looks like we’ll have to wait until we’re back at HQ for the full 6 1/2 minute clip):
the start of the Costume Parade. Harvest Festival & Farmers Market continue until 2! pic.twitter.com/G6QzCivVvc
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 30, 2016
Next up: Business trick-or-treating at noon. We’ve been asked how that works – look for merchants with candy OUTSIDE their businesses throughout The Junction.
12:15 PM: Trick-or-treating is now on! And activities continue. Westside School (WSB sponsor) is one of your stops on California between Alaska and Edmunds – there, you can play Plinko:
Coworking center West Seattle Office Junction (also a WSB sponsor) is nearby and has a “critter pit”:
Meanwhile, the Farmers Market continues until 2 pm as usual. Many vendors are in the spirit!
We have some music here at California/Alaska, too – WSHS Band members, post-parade, are busking, as they’ve been doing to raise money for new instruments. And all the while, more cool costumes:
12:58 PM: Final hour. The crowd has thinned a bit but still really festive – we are talking with organizers and participants about how big the festival is this year, so many people here in The Junction, it reminds us of Summer Fest. Thanks to everyone who’s stopped by to say hi – from our booth in the heart of Walk-All-Ways, we’ve had a front-row seat for it all.
1:19 PM: The crowd’s thinned further because the rain has returned. Next big thing: Vote-counting for the chili cookoff. Here’s a tweet with a look at the contenders’ offerings:
Hard to choose favorite chili at #westseattle #harvestfestival benefiting #seattlefoodbank @WSJA @westseattleblog pic.twitter.com/Twikp8FVAQ
— Ginny Weir (@yes0virginia) October 30, 2016
Still some good stuff at this week’s market, too.
1:30 PM: And the chili winners are:
#1 – The Westy
#2 – Brookdale Admiral Heights
#3 – Shadowland
Congratulations!
2 PM: The rain hasn’t stopped but the festival’s wrapping up.
P.S. We will have a separate photo gallery plus some other festival followups at midday Monday.
(WSB file photo from past Harvest Festival)
Just a little over a day and a half until this year’s West Seattle Harvest Festival in The Junction, which runs concurrent with the Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm on Sunday.
The market remains in the street on California between Alaska and Oregon. Festival activities will also be found on California between Alaska and Edmunds, and on Alaska between 42nd and 44th.
*Activities (games, art, crafts, more – more than two dozen providers – all free!) 10 am-2 pm
*Chili competition on the southwest corner of California/Alaska starting at 11 am – buy a flight (nine competitors), vote for your favorite, and your $ goes to the West Seattle Food Bank
*Costume parade 11:30 am from Junction Plaza Park (gather there starting at 11:15 am at 42nd/Alaska), led by the West Seattle High School Marching Band
*Trick-or-treating at Junction businesses starting at noon
We’ll be there throughout the festival, covering it “live” from the heart of The Junction. See you there on Sunday (forecast so far looks like we’ll see some sunshine)!
2:50 PM: The Fauntleroy Fall Festival might be the only place you’ll hear a Prince cover with ukuleles:
Prince tribute with ukuleles at Fauntleroy Fall Festival… pic.twitter.com/uMOk2ivuCC
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 23, 2016
The Back Porch Apostles are playing in the Fauntleroy Church/Y parking lot right now, which is one of the centers of activity during the festival, continuing until 5 pm. Lots of kid activities in the lot, including an annual favorite – making salmon hats, in honor of nearby Fauntleroy Creek:
On the north side of the lot, Seattle Fire Engine 37 from Sunrise Heights was visiting, along with the local Seattle Police Mobile Precinct:
Another center is The Hall at Fauntleroy on the other side of the 9100 block of California SW. Inside – more music plus the cake-decorating contest, to be followed by the cakewalk. We were totally surprised to see the cake on the left:
(3:40 pm note – the truck cake on the right won the “advanced” division!) More festival updates to come – here’s the schedule of what’s happening, where, and when, and here’s the list of food/drink available for purchase (everything else here is free).
3:30 PM UPDATE: Some of the festival activities are hidden gems – you have to wander into the church lobby to find the West Seattle Community Orchestras‘ “instrument petting zoo”:
In the Vashon Room of The Hall at Fauntleroy, meantime, it’s cakewalk time!
And on the east side of The Hall, the West Seattle Big Band will be playing at 3:45 – lots of room to dance!
4:09 PM UPDATE: Evidence of that last statement:
The WSBB plays until 5 pm, when the festival wraps up. It’s always musically abundant – in addition to offering the instrument “zoo” mentioned above, the WSCO had a Brass Sextet (plus percussionist) performing in the church’s fellowship hall:
Thanks to Toni Reineke (third from the left) for sharing that photo. One more festival center we haven’t mentioned yet – outside Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, to the west, pony rides, music, a playground, and a petting zoo with goats among other fuzzy friends:
The festival is a collaboration between community groups, institutions, organizations, and businesses, running on volunteer power and donations. If you would like to donate and missed the chance at the festival, just go here.
P.S. Some of the festival faces – first, Fauntleroy Creek watershed steward Judy Pickens, who’s a legend with the salmon hat-making:
Festival partner Fauntleroy Community Association:
The D Squared/Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes/Hall at Fauntleroy team:
And Lonjina Verdugo from Wildwood Market, soon to open in Fauntleroy:
Next event in Fauntleroy – gather to drum and sing the coho home to the creek, 5 pm next Sunday (October 30th) at the fish-ladder overlook across from the ferry terminal.
(WSB file photo)
Just hours to go until this year’s Fauntleroy Fall Festival – tomorrow (Sunday, October 23rd), 2-5 pm, at venues on both sides of the 9100 block of California SW (Fauntleroy Church/YMCA/Schoolhouse; here’s a map). Tonight, we have two things you might be wondering about in advance – the activity schedule, and the food!
Here’s the schedule:
Activities are free. The only things you need to bring money for – entirely optional – are the food and drink offerings. See the list here (PDF) – vendors this year are Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor), Tuxedoes and Tennis Shoes Catering, Stuffed Cakes, Bird on a Wire Espresso, and The Tamale Guy. Plus, the Fauntleroy Church Youth Club will be having a bake sale.
Perfect pumpkin-carving weather as the Solstice Park P-Patch gardeners host this year’s Fall Festival, until 5 pm. They’re also selling everything from dried herbs to plants to treats – this is just one of the tables:
And if you wander uphill into the P-Patch itself, you can admire fall flowers like these:
Like all P-Patches, this one is managed by its own (volunteer) gardeners, but not all have special events like this one. The plants, by the way, include starts for your own garden as well as perennials – go see for yourself next to the tennis courts at 7400 Fauntleroy Way SW before the afternoon ends!
This will of course be on our Saturday highlights list but in case you’re up tonight looking ahead to tomorrow … the Solstice Park P-Patch gardeners rescheduled their Fall Festival because of last weekend’s weather worries and are hoping to see you, 2-5 pm Saturday. Everybody’s welcome! Karen from the P-Patch says, “We’ve worked really hard on making it great this year. We have wonderful plants and fall garden starts. Also, really unique organic produce and herbs for cooks, that can’t be found in the markets.” The hillside garden itself, across from the north end of Lincoln Park, is a sight to see, too.
If it’s not already in your weekend plan … we need to talk about the Fauntleroy Fall Festival. Again this year, it’s three busy hours of all-ages fun in the heart of Fauntleroy – in and around the historic Fauntleroy Schoolhouse, in and around the Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) and Fauntleroy Church across the street, this Sunday (October 23rd), 2-5 pm. Here’s just part of what you’ll find:
*Pumpkin decorating
*Other crafts
*Birdhouse building
*Climbing wall
*Pony rides
*Music (including West Seattle Big Band in The Hall at Fauntleroy at 3:30 pm)
*Cake contest and cakewalk
About that last one – you can enter! Here’s how:
The decorating contest has three categories: Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Cakes can be any shape or size but should have either a Fall, Halloween, or West Seattle theme. They can be very simple to very elaborate, baked and decorated by an individual, or a parent and child, a family, or a group of friends.
Cakes should be brought to the Vashon Room on the day of the festival, between 12 noon and 1 pm. Voting will begin at 1:30 and continue until about 3 p.m. Once the votes have been tallied, prizes will be awarded for each category. (Who votes? You do, along with other Fall Festival guests.) And then the Cake Walk begins! The Cake Walk continues until all the cakes have been given away. If you do not want to enter the Cake Decorating Contest, you can bake and donate a cake for the Cake Walk.
The Vashon Room is at The Hall at Fauntleroy (9131 California SW). Everything’s free except the food items you’ll find available for purchase.
P.S. One great way to get there is RapidRide C Line, which drops you off in the middle of the festival.
(WSB photo from last year’s Harvest Festival)
Now just three more weeks of waiting until this year’s West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival … four hours of big fall fun on Sunday, October 30th, 10 am-2 pm. The newest update: The lineup is set for the Chili Cookoff, nine local businesses donating chili to compete for the title, via your votes – you buy a flight of chili tastes starting at 11 am, you vote, the West Seattle Food Bank gets the proceeds to help fight hunger. Here’s who’s in:
Easy Street Café
Elliott Bay Brewing Co.
Husky Deli
The Westy
Shelby’s Bistro and Ice Creamery
Shadowland
Freshy’s
Grilling Greek Catering Company
Brookdale Senior Living
Here’s the festival schedule:
10 am: Activity booths open
10 am: Farmers Market opens
11 am: Chili Cookoff begins
11:30 am: Costume parade (start gathering at Junction Plaza Park, 42nd/Alaska, 11:15 am)
Noon: Trick-or-treating starts
It all happens in the street, in the heart of The Junction. WSB is media sponsor again this year, and we’ll be reporting “live” on-site … see you there!
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