(Photos and Story by Christopher Boffoli)

It seemed as though every street in South Park was having a garage or yard sale this afternoon. Hundreds of people were out selling their wares on a picture-perfect August day. And in true neighborhood fashion it was a festive, eclectic mix of not only household goods but also food, live music and curbside massage, as part of the community-wide South Park on Sale!

Organizer, Deborah Semer (above) explained that she conceived of the simultaneous garage/alley/yard sales to help South Park in the wake of the closure of its bridge, which many South Park residents regarded as a lifeline to the rest of the City. She said her goal today was about helping to encourage people to keep coming to South Park and exploring all it has to offer.

Out in front of Semer’s house we spoke with friends Tabitha Thomas-Gadzuk and Catherine Barrows who recently launched new food business TabbyCat Pickling Co. and who were selling their products, including a zucchini relish (below left), grown with vegetables from their farm in Kent:

We also found West Seattle resident Karina Macklin in South Park today offering massages for $1 a minute. The customer she was working on only managed to moan in approval:

And here’s Nathan Coleman presiding over his tables of merchandise:

In addition to the yard sales, Semer said visitors could also expect to see a Zumba flash mob, pirates, the Dead Babies Bicycle Club, mural artist Kenji Fullmer and musicians like Gnarlene, who was performing on his front lawn:

and Tukso Okey who we found playing several different instruments on the bank of the Duwamish river, with the South Park bridge as a backdrop:

This evening’s events include a free outdoor showing of the Pixar film “Up” at the South Park Outdoor Cinema (in the parking lot of Napoli Pizza at 8600 14th Avenue South). Some South Park restaurants are offering special movie night dinner specials too!

10:43 pm: Adding a bit of video from Tukso Okey’s performance in South Park this afternoon.