Big Band, big fun
This morning’s rain was just a memory by the time the West Seattle Big Band opened its annual Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park tonight at Hiawatha. Excellent, eclectic program … preceded by West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, who said a few things about his home ‘hood’s annexation centennial and noted a new commemorative tree and plaque on the south side of the community center. We caught a more interesting scene on the sidelines pre-concert, which we would have liked to have dubbed the dog ‘n’ pony show if only a canine had been present:
Then, the tunes. This was the first time we’ve ever seen/heard the WS Big Band, a volunteer group which donates its time and money to promote music in public schools.
More pix and notes from the concert, plus your next chance to catch the WSBB, after the click:Read More
Summer Fest, the final hours
if you haven’t been yet – or even if you have – wander down to The Junction before Summer Fest ends 7 pm-ish. Part of the WSB team made another run through it this afternoon, catching street magic along the way:
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Friday night, wandering WS
We didn’t return to Summer Fest until most of the booths were preparing to fold up for the night, but there were still sights to be seen, such as this small train display outside the train shop (note the wishing well bowl and a lizard/dinosaur chewing on a car):
North of Oregon, the “car show” near the Rat City Rollergirls‘ booth turned out to be a grand total of three cars by the time we got there. Nonetheless, this classic was a sight to see, especially with its original $2400ish price sticker in the window:
Then it was time to head closer to the water, and we found ourselves at Seacrest, where the pier bustled with crab pots and fishing rods, with cotton-candy thundercloud-wannabes behind the downtown skyline:
Seacrest will also entertain young fisherfolk in the morning at a special pond set up for a Hi-Yu event. We’ll have more on that after dawn’s early light.
Summer Fest freebie
OK, our early scouting party’s first report from Summer Fest in The Junction: Metro Market’s kiosk was offering free brownie samples. We’ll be going back later to look for the Rat City Rollergirls, among others.
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WS weekend lineup: Summer Fest and TONS more
Summer Fest is of course the headliner, but this weekend also features the dinner/auction to save the Community School of WS site from going condo, DNDA’s big art auction, Sunday morning classics at Admiral Theater, low tides, and more … Click for the full list, as always:Read More
Summer Fest eve
Tonight’s sunset managed to trump last night’s; here’s the view from Charlestown Hill, after we wandered The Junction checking out Summer Fest setup (lookin’ good, especially the Elliott Bay Brewing Co. outdoor area, which was already in full swing, including live music):
Summer Fest road closures about to take effect
Just so you’re not startled trying to drive through The Junction tonight or tomorrow morning even before the festival begins — the city reminds us that the road closures for Summer Fest kick in at 6 tonight and continue till late Sunday night. (And in an outside-WS note, if you need to travel to the Eastside, remember this is one of those “520 bridge shutdown” weekends, 11 pm Friday till 5 am Monday.)
Looking ahead to Summer Fest
-So much going on at Summer Fest in The Junction next Friday-Saturday-Sunday, you just might have to go each day (and night). Besides the music lineup first mentioned here 2 weeks ago, the Summer Fest website has lots more details now about the rest of the fun (including what sounds like an absolute blast on Friday, with the Rat City Rollergirls, a car show, and more) plus a full list of vendors and exhibitors.
-Many community groups will be there Saturday & Sunday in hopes of grabbing your attention. Among them, the relatively new (and growing) Sustainable West Seattle promises a photo display of “sustainability in action” around WS; skatepark advocates will hold court, gather signatures, and show their stuff at a “temporary skatepark” (Wells Fargo parking lot) And if you missed the recent WS Emergency Preparedness event, just stop by the Megawatt/Morgan Community Association booth, where you’ll be able to get a free CD of the key info presented there (including our suggestions for getting online in times of trouble, and what you can do now to be sure you’ll be able to).
They came, we saw, they didn’t quite conquer
Time & place: Somewhere after noon today atop the Alki seawall. One of the hundreds of small children awaiting the Seafair Pirates‘ Landing said to an accompanying adult: “We’ve been here THREE HOURS!”
Said the adult: “Yeah, we’re not doing THIS again next year. We’ll just watch it on the news.”
Having watched this particular orchestration of the Seafair Pirates Landing two years in a row now (as we wrote last year, we had given up on the whole thing long ago, till we launched WSB and therefore felt dutybound to check it out) — we might do the same. Why, you ask? Click ahead for more, including more photos, and links to some other writeups already up online:Read More
Mayor to help celebrate Hi-Yu
Perhaps not surprising since WS is his backyard, of course, but still cool to hear the mayor will help commemorate West Seattle’s annexation centennial with a Hi-Yu appearance — click to read about it:Read More
Suitable for framing
… or, at least for posting on your fridge; just tack it up someplace handy — we happened onto this downloadable version of the cool West Seattle Summer Events poster you may have seen in store windows and on bulletin boards around town.
Junction goes metal
It’s listed in our weekend roundup but seems to be worth a standalone mention in case you happen to pass the American Legion Hall on the east end of The Junction tomorrow afternoon and wonder what’s up — tomorrow is the third and final day of the first-ever Rainfest; day 1 was at the Legion Hall too, day 2 was in Parkland. Guess you could call this the anti-Folklife, if it becomes a M-Day Weekend staple.
Daydreaming ahead to summer fun
More details are up at the Sidewalk Cinema site regarding this summer’s slate of outdoor movies in The Junction, including two of the planned movies (hint: dogs and Depp) and some of the sponsors (still looking for more). Those movie nights bring some of our favorite WS summer fun, along with the Seafair Pirates’ landing @ Alki (July 7), Summer Fest (July 13-15), and the Hi-Yu Parade (July 21). Looks like Seattle Music Fest is expecting to be back on the beach this summer too (Aug. 10-12), after a year off.
Hey, leg lovers! Remember the virtual catcalls over the Spud mascot in our pic (photo back for an encore performance at right) from the 
We’re counting down to the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade this Saturday morning (
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