The first festival of the year is a week and a half away – and tonight, Lauren Englund from the West Seattle Bee Garden shares details about the second annual WS Bee Festival on Sunday, May 4th:

Festivities will begin with a parade at 11 am, and the West Seattle High School Marching Band will lead the way!

The parade will begin at West Seattle Elementary parking lot (6760 34th Ave SW), and head down 31st Ave and Lanham Pl. to the WS Bee Garden in Commons Park.

The parking lot will open at 10 am for pre-parade face painting and craft making. Everyone is welcome to join!

The picnic will take place in High Point’s Commons Park at 31st Ave SW and SW Graham St. Activities will include a craft tent, face painting, vendors, food, music and more!

Husky Deli is making a special honey-flavored ice cream for the event – with local honey donated by West Seattle’s own Seattle Bee Works. All proceeds will go back to the bees!

Members of the Keep High Point Green project will be around to share their story of successfully preventing the use of herbicides in High Point, way to go team!

The bees are happily nestled in their hives, and can be seen through the plexiglass enclosure surrounding them.

There is plenty to celebrate. The garden is celebrating its first anniversary, and has hosted 15 field trips since its inauguration last May. Schools from as far away as SeaTac have scheduled visits this year – and some are pairing visits with pollinator curriculums that are now available on the bee garden website here, making visits even more meaningful. Students at the University of Washington are presenting a proposal to create a replica of the bee enclosure on UW’s campus, spreading pollinator education even further, and geared toward a new demographic of students. The bee garden has served as an example to other cities, and has been included in presentations as an example of a successful urban bee project in cities as far away as Lafayette Ohio, who hope to build similar spaces.

The garden has been named a beneficiary of the West Seattle Garden Tour this year (thank you very much to the tour!) and is being considered for Seattle Tilth’s Urban Farm Tour in July.

Way to go West Seattle! We did it, and are still going strong! The bees and plants thank you, and we all hope you can come celebrate with us May 4th!