2012 was the first year Delridge Day had a music stage and helped to showcase some the best local talent! This year, the plans are no different and the community planners for Delridge Day are hard at work in search for some great musical talent to help fill out time slots and show the community what they have to offer.

Delridge Day is planned for Saturday, August 17th from 11 AM-4 PM at Delridge Community Center and Park. If you’ve got a voice, guitar, drum set or even a drumbot, then we want to hear what you have to offer! We have time slots ranging from 11 AM-3 PM and are looking to fill them immediately. Interested musicians can e-mail Chas Redmond at credmond@mac.com and provide links to their music. We’re looking for solo artists and groups that are ready to entertain the local community!

This year’s Delridge Day co-sponsors include WSB – and they’re still seeking more; here’s the info packet for prospective sponsors.

After a one-year hiatus, the Arts in Nature Festival returns to Camp Long on August 10-11 with indie rockers Cloud Cult to headline. The Festival is an eclectic, multidisciplinary experience of music, dance, interactive arts, and sound in the woods of Seattle’s only campground. Festival-goers can experience works ranging from jazz, classical, indie rock, bluegrass, contemporary dance, marching bands, fire & wandering performances, and interactive sound installations.

After playing a high-energy show at The Neptune on May 6, acclaimed eco-rockers Cloud Cult will return to Seattle for two intimate, acoustic shows at the Arts in Nature Festival. Each set will take place in front of the fireplace in Camp Long’s rustic lodge.

Cloud Cult, who traveled their first American tour in a van covered in solar panels, is well known for their earthy, environmental vibe. Lead singer Craig and Connie Minowa founded Earthology, an environmental nonprofit that includes an advocacy wing called Earthology Institute and the green-powered Earthology Records which houses all of the band’s productions.

In addition to Cloud Cult, there will be a wide array of modern and traditional music at the Arts in Nature Festival ranging from experimental and improvised to world, classical, jazz, bluegrass and folk.  Performances will be ambient and acoustic in four different venues throughout the park: in the Lodge, in a forested grove by the Pond, on the climbing Glacier, and in the Meadow. 

Camp Long’s rustic cabins will house the Museum of Sound where artists will take up residency for the weekend creating multidisciplinary installations that blend sound, auditory arts, music and visual arts. The cabins meander through the forested outer perimeter of the park, and festival goers will have the opportunity to enter and explore each cabin. Most of the cabins will have a hands-on component allowing attendees to interact with the artists’ work.

Dance performances and literary readings will present in various locations throughout the park. Festival goers will also be able to participate in art activities, a ropes challenge course, yarn bombing, hikes through the forest, and naturalist activities.

One unique thing that Arts in Nature attendees will notice is that, aside from delicious local food, there will be no large booths of vendors trying to sell them anything. The Festival experience is one centered on interaction rather than transaction.

Admission to the Arts in Nature Festival is free with suggested donation; $10 for individuals and $25 for families. The Festival is an annual event hosted by Nature Consortium, a West Seattle-based nonprofit that connects people, arts, and nature.

The full lineup of the festival is to be announced. For more information, visit fest.naturec.org.

Not to rush things along – but suddenly it’s May, and even summer’s big events are in view – like the West Seattle Junction Association-presented West Seattle Summer Fest (with WSB among the co-sponsors again this year). If you’re an artist/craftsperson and would like to be part of the Art Dive at Summer Fest, Twilight Gallery and Boutique is organizing it again this year, and is calling for applications:

Calling all local artists, craft vendors, upcyclers, jewelers, product makers, etc, etc. This is your weekend festival on the WEST SIDE!

2013 FESTIVAL DATES ARE HERE: (different than the deadline)
Friday, July 12, 10 am – 6 pm
Saturday, July 13, 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, July 14, 11 am – 5 pm

ABOUT ART DIVE:

Art Dive is an artist flea market housed within Summer Fest. Art Dive consists of dozens of artists and crafts people selling goods to the public. Art Dive is sponsored by Twilight Gallery & Boutique.

Details continue ahead, along with the application link:

Art Dive tables are 8′x2′ and cost $125 each for this three-day event. If you would like to be a part of Art Dive please review our list of qualifications and fill out this form. You will be required to pay a $20, non-refundable application fee. We will confirm your participation in ART DIVE within two weeks! Submission of an application does not assure you a space in the festival.

QUALIFICATIONS:
You must be selling goods made by you in the United States.
You must participate all three days during all vending hours.
You cannot take up more space than is allotted to you.
You cannot purchase more than two spots.

All transactions are direct between you and the customer, we do not process sales for you.
We do not take a percentage of your sales.

If you have questions about ART DIVE, please email info@twilightart.net

and THANK YOU!!!

SUBMISSION FORM IS HERE:
twilightartistcollective.wufoo.com/forms/art-dive-west-seattle-summerfest-2013/

FB is here:
facebook.com/events/505343666182180

(Delridge Day 2012 photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
After a day dominated by headlines about what’s NOT happening this summer – it’s time for a reminder about what IS. West Seattle’s summer festivals and events are all in full planning swing, as we’ve mentioned in neighborhood coverage throughout the fall and winter, and now that spring is really here, everything is starting to gel. Tonight, the North Delridge Neighborhood Council is getting out the word that Delridge Day is already recruiting vendors, sponsors, and musicians, while working on the overall plan:

The 2013 Delridge Day Festival is planned for Saturday, August 17th, from 11 am-4 pm at Delridge Community Center and Park. This year’s festival will feature a large vendor area, highlighting some of the best local businesses in the area, local savory and sweet food trucks where you can grab a bite to eat, kids and family style picnic games, bouncy house, face painting, and much more! Again this year, we’ll have our music stage with plenty of local live music and entertainment. Interested music groups and talent can e-mail Chas Redmond at credmond@mac.com and provide links to their music.

The planning committee is working on securing sponsors and vendors to make this year’s event happen. We encourage local businesses to submit an application to be a part of our local event! The sponsorship and vendor fees not only support the festival but all give back to the community, as 15 percent of all fees are donated to the ARC (Associated Recreation Council), which provides scholarships for Community Center classes at Delridge Community Center. Over the last two years, Delridge Day has donated nearly $2,000 to the ARC!

Vendor and Sponsor packets are available online at:
ndnc.org/delridgeday or by e-mailing the planning committee at delridgeday@ndnc.org

To keep updated on the festival plans, visit the festival web page: www.ndnc.org/delridgeday or check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/delridgeday.

Here’s our full coverage from last year, if you want to get a closer look at how it all unfolded.

(WSB photo, May 2012)
With a month and a half to go until Alki’s car-free day, aka Seattle Summer Streets – coming up May 19th, right after the West Seattle 5K wraps up – one beach resident says the event needs more fun. So Guy Olson is hoping to inspire others by organizing a two-part event that he hopes will turn into something big:

I have 2 DJ’s, one band, and “The Bubble Man” committed so far. My home has a large balcony in the heart of Alki Beach, overlooking the beach, in the middle of the nearby bars/restaurants, and the avenue. My plan is to have all the performers perform from the driveway directly next door and the bubble artist on my patio/deck/balcony.

And that’s just for starters. For the next part of the plan, you, your family/friends/kids/schoolmates/etc. are invited to join in:

The biggest idea, which I will need the most help with, is: “West Seattle’s Largest Costumed Bicycle Parade.”

This parade will begin at 1:00 pm on May 19, 2013. The parade will begin at 63rd and Alki Avenue continuing to Seacrest Park on Harbor Avenue and then looping back to El Chupacabra on Alki Avenue. This will be the “finish line” and the place for our post-parade party. … I’m hoping for a huge turnout and to make this “Alki Car-Free Day” a very memorable experience for everyone I possibly can.

So mark your calendar, and think sun – as noted at the end of last year’s WSB report, we haven’t really seen it since the first “car-free day” in 2008! – and if you have a bike, be ready to join Guy’s parade.

P.S. As noted on the city’s official Summer Streets page, citizen-organized events like this are welcomed – so if you have an idea, get going with it too!

SATURDAY NOTE: Guy clarifies that this is being planned in conjunction with the Alki Beach Creeps Bicycle Club – you’ll remember them for the big cleanup at Constellation Park last month.

(WSB photo from 2011 West Seattle Summer Fest)
Nowthat it’s almost April, July is right around the corner – really! Here’s a heads-up from Susan Melrose at the West Seattle Junction Association:

Hi West Seattle!

West Seattle Summer Fest 2013 is July 12, 13 and 14. We’ll bring back all the great stuff that our neighborhood loves.

And that includes local businesses! West Seattle retailers and restaurants are encouraged to sign up as a vendor. We are reviewing the first round of applications on April 1st. This festival fills up quickly so if you’d like to participate, submit your application by Monday, April 1st. Apply at westseattlefestival.com.

Producing this event is a large undertaking and sponsors are needed to help make it possible. If you’re interested in becoming a Summer Fest sponsor, please e-mail susan@wsjunction.org for details.

This year, we’ll have a local non-profit coordinate the Community Tent where our small neighborhood organizations can have shifts of free space at the festival. Stay tuned for details.

(WSB photo from West Seattle Summer Fest ’11)
Yes, it’s technically winter, as this morning’s icy windshields reminded us. But the sunshine also stirs daydreams of spring and summer, and West Seattle’s wonderful annual events. Here are three that are already signing up vendors/exhibitors/etc.:

SEATTLE SUMMER STREETS ON ALKI, MAY 19TH: Once again this year, after the West Seattle 5K closes Alki and Harbor Avenues 9 am-11 am, a shorter stretch of Alki SW will remain closed to motorized vehicles the rest of the day for Seattle Summer Streets, till 5 pm. SDOT is soliciting sponsors, vendors, exhibitors, and activities; apply online here.

WEST SEATTLE SUMMER FEST, JULY 12-13-14: Vendor and music applications for The Junction’s annual festival are linked from the right side of its home page.

ALKI ART FAIR, JULY 20-21: Artist/vendor applications are available – find the links here.

(13-month-old Nathan Boggs, photographed on Sunday by Nick Adams for WSB)
In our two reports here on WSB – “as it happened” coverage and post-event photo gallery – plus Facebook and Twitter updates, we showed you how successful the first-ever Junction Harvest Festival was, in many ways. The West Seattle Junction Association agrees it was spectacular, writes director Susan Melrose, in a note to say “thanks”:

The Junction Association was thrilled and amazed by the success of the Harvest Festival. What a day filled with smiles, friends, and fun. Our community embraced this event and each aspect flourished. I LOVED the parade led by the WSHS Marching Band! The best part is that this event made so many in our community happy and gave folks yet another reason to get together. When the Junction Association’s board decided to expand this event, the #1 goal was to give the neighborhood something great. I’m glad that we succeeded.

Big thank you to the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance for bringing the Harvest, community groups for bringing truly awesome activities, our volunteers for helping make it happen, and the businesses in The Junction who have made all this possible. Thanks to all who came and brought their energy, smiles and laughter.

Cheers to the First Annual Harvest Festival!

Susan Melrose
Junction Association Director

Thousands thronged The Junction on Sunday for its first-ever Harvest Festival – melding the West Seattle Farmers’ Market with business-district trick-or-treating. We covered it “live” as it unfolded over four hours, but there’s more to show, in these two-dozen-plus photos by WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams. Above, 4-year-old Joseph Cho (“The Flash”) awaits fruit in a market booth. Next, hay was a playground for a little dinosaur, 11-month-old Noah Wootton, and friends:

Grownups and pets got into the spirit too:

That’s Jim Rogers with Olaf, who is masquerading as Al Capone. 19 more festival scenes, ahead:

Matt Harkleroad, above, turned heads. All the while, trick-or-treaters like 4-year-old Yoli Caro Vargas Vega, center, mulled treat possibilities – she was at the West Seattle Nursery table:

La Romanza Italian Bistro (WSB sponsor) owner Aimee Pellegrini took a moment to provide daughter Nina, 5, with a little hair help:

Before the trick-or-treating began in earnest, there was the parade! These four were all lined up and ready to go:

Amy Vattuone helped her son Ezra Dykgraa put on his glove:

The West Seattle High School Marching Band led the parade in style:

Spectators abounded, some in strollers …

… some in costume:

The entire festival was a parade in its own way.

Or a dash – “Alien” Colby Greminger, 11, ran with “Jellyfish” sister Archer, 9, chasing him down the sidewalk:

Also on the run, Elijah O’Reilly, 4, with Rafael Polito, 5, in pursuit:

Some were pulled instead of chased – here’s “Phineas” Theo Schill reaching for his halloween basket while pulling his brother (“Ferb”) Nate.

Some opted to (or had to) ride – 2-year-old “Buzz Lightyear,” Leonardo Galarza points to “To infinity … and beyond!” while riding on dad Julio‘s shoulders:

If you didn’t have a perch like that, big glasses might have helped, like those worn by Andy Mason (as a jack-in-the-box):

The costume variety was impressive. Here’s 2-year-old garden gnome Luke Seery:

Perhaps the gnome’s garden included a Venus Flytrap like 5-year-old Kai Callahan?

Sheep to tend? Call in Little Bo Peep (Dahlia Wandasiewicz):

Here’s the Mad Scientist, Elliott Hammargren:

In lovely fall colors, 2-year-old Calliope Olson:

Again, our “as-it-happened” coverage – while we were stationed in the “pumpkin bowling” booth with WestSide Baby and West Seattle Bowl – is here (and we’re adding a couple community-contributed photos to it shortly).

ADDED: Commenters asked about the “Cat in the Hat dad” with “Thing 1 and Thing 2″ seen in The Junction – and while Nick didn’t happen across them, we have since received a photo:

(Photo by Dorte Madsen)
Mark Dempsey writes, “My twin daughters and I were the Cat in the Hat, and Thing 1 and Thing 2, and we were utterly surprised at the amount of attention we drew while walking along the Junction during the festival on Sunday.” His daughters are Jacqueline and Clara Dempsey. Thanks for the photo!

10:41 AM: The sun is out for the start of the first-ever West Seattle Junction Harvest Festival – with lots of people already out and about to enjoy the special middle-of-the-street Farmers’ Market, plus homemade carnival-style activities like pumpkin bowling (above), at our booth with WestSide Baby and West Seattle Bowl (dubbed WSB X 3) on the east side of California/Alaska. You’ll find art by Curious Kidstuff:

And the Community School of West Seattle is here with chickens and a turkey!

20-plus organizations and businesses are offering activities – and right in the heart of Walk-All-Ways, get your questions answered by Farmers’ Market folks – we loved the corncob hat:

Lots of costumed kids and adults out already – and we’re still just under an hour away from the costume parade leaving Junction Plaza Park at 11:30 am, followed by trick-or-treating noon-2 pm – and 2 is when the festival ends, so get down here fast.

More coverage to come!

11:24 AM UPDATE: The costume parade is about to start – the WSHS Marching Band has been warming up, and we discovered that someone who has a lot of experience with parades – Jim Edwards, co-coordinator of the West Seattle Grand Parade – is helping this one get off on the right foot. (The parade looped all the way around the festival site – here’s Jim on his motorcycle:)

And part of the band:

And the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court:

(added) Video of the parade as it began from Junction Plaza Park:

12:25 PM UPDATE: Hour and a half to go – didn’t think it was possible, but there are even more people here now. Costume-watching continues:

And the Batmans helping each other across the street:

Costumed grownups as well as kids. We’ll have parade video later as well as a second roundup of photos beyond the ones we manage to get into this as-it-happened narrative. Come down and hang out with your neighbors! Also check out the RE/MAX Haunted House over on 44th – which has been drawing lines:

1:30 PM UPDATE: Half an hour to go. So many people have come by the booth – pumpkin-bowling, asking questions about WestSide Baby, saying hi, picking up West Seattle Bowl coupons – thank you! (And if you’re still here or stopping by before 2, we have some of our free WSB ice-scrapers left to give away.) The crowd has been terrific. But the weather’s turned cloudy and cooler, so our respite from the rain might only last as long as the festival …

2:04 PM UPDATE: Starting to fold up – the streets have to be cleared so they can reopen within a couple hours. We will have at least one more report later with lots more photos, and parade video. Thanks to everybody who came to the festival – and all the volunteers/businesses/organizations who made the fun activities happen and provided treats, free.

ADDED: A community-contributed photo – Lisa Secord sent this photo of her 11-year-old son, Brendan Lancaster, dressed as “Great Granny” – she reports the reactions were priceless:

One more business-district trick-or-treat event – Westwood Village, 5-7 pm on Halloween.

1. The streets will be closed (similar to the Summer Fest/Car Show footprint), which also means bus reroutes (explained here).

2. Farmers’ Market vendors will be set up in the middle of California SW.

3. The costume parade starts at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska) at 11:30 am.

4. Trick-or-treating is noon-2 pm.

5. Free activities are for the duration, 10 am-2 pm.

Though Halloween is eight days away, the biggest events are this weekend (as you can tell if you check the WSB West Seattle Halloween page). And the first-ever West Seattle Junction Association-presented Harvest Festival this Sunday (October 28th, 10 am-2 pm) just keeps getting bigger. Note the brand-new map/poster above (printable PDF here) – in addition to helping you figure out where to find your favorite Farmers’ Market booths along California SW (the streets are closing, so they’re moving out into the street), it also lists events beyond the costume parade (11:30 am from Junction Plaza Park), trick-or-treating (noon-2 pm) and ongoing activities (entire 10-2 duration) already announced. West Seattle Eagles invite you to a pumpkin-spiced-pancake breakfast at their HQ near the Junction Post Office, and ReMAX invites you to a “gently haunted house” at their HQ on 44th, noon-2 pm. We’re among the businesses/organizations presenting one of the activities (look for WSB X 3 – us, WestSide Baby and West Seattle Bowl with pumpkin bowling!), so we’ll see you there!

The Fauntleroy Fall Festival is always an indoor-outdoor celebration – but the overdue arrival of fall rain put a little more emphasis on the indoor for Sunday’s 10th-anniversary edition. We reported on the festival as it began (WSB coverage here) – and then WSB contributing photojournalist Nick Adams roamed to capture more of the memory-making scenes, such as, above, Marcus Wiatr, left, setting up his umbrella on the meditation labyrinth inside The Hall at Fauntleroy – and back outside, Audrey Maffeo, 3, seeking creative inspiration before painting a pumpkin:

Back inside, the annual Cake Walk delighted participants: Carolyn Tucker drew another number for a lucky winner:

How exciting was it to win? Emma Maffeo, 7, hugged her sister Audrey, 3:

McKenna Ross, 7, jumped with joy after her number was called with only a few cakes left:

Fauntleroy’s performing troupes enchanted audiences: Here’s schoolhouse-based Dance West Seattle‘s Emma VanOrden taking a bow at the end of a mini-showing of “The Magical Doll Maker”:

Dance West Seattle’s Heather Halvorson waited to greet children after the performance:

And Cole Peck talked with a guest after the show:

When not watching a dancer or listening to a musician, young festivalgoers were back in action themselves. Ze’ev Loetel, below left, and Campbell Wood, both 3, climbed on the indoor bouncy house:

Back outside, activity opportunities abounded under the tent in the Fauntleroy Church/YMCA parking lot: You could build a birdhouse, as did Gideon Knox, 9, left:

Or you could get an “undrivers’ license”:

And climb a “rock wall”:

Special visitors from the Seattle Fire Department dropped by; even the roaming stiltwalker was impressed when Engine 37 from Sunrise Heights arrived:

Rylan Gauthier, 10 and brother Toren, 2, stopped to watch it get into place for tours:

Those enjoying tours of Engine 37 also included Melissa Brown and Campbell Wood, 3:

Nearby, you could check out the chickens, as did Sarah Schreder Peters:

Other farm animals were on hand courtesy of Debbie Doolittle:

Oh, and about those pumpkins? We showed the “before” photo in our early coverage – within a few hours, the transformations were complete:

The Fauntleroy Fall Festival is an all-volunteer effort put on by a long list of fine folks you can see here – if you missed it, keep an eye out for word of next October’s date!

Indoor and outdoor fun that the rain can’t stop – that’s what you’ll find till 6 pm at the Fauntleroy Fall Festival. Above – birdhouse-building (they need somewhere to get out of the rain too!) – next, two of the many incredibly decorated cakes up for grabs during the Cake Walk:

The coveted chef’s hats are up for grabs for the winners:

Back outdoors – the pumpkins waiting to be painted, just before the festival began (we’ll get an “after” shot later):

Indoors – people to meet! Like West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival Junior Court princesses Winter and Olivia:

Fauntleroy community advocates and festival volunteers are everywhere – here are Vicki Schmitz-Block and Martha Callard with the Fauntleroy Community Association banner:

And yes, the ponies are here (behind the schoolhouse, to the west, next to the parking lot)

Lots more photos later. Performances to enjoy and a lot more – here’s the schedule (but check on site if you’re looking for something specific, in case the weather forced a location move). 9100 block of Fauntleroy, in and around the church, YMCA, and old schoolhouse (which now includes a multitude of community facilities and businesses – worth the visit all by itself).