West Seattle Summer Fest: What’s different; who’s where

(Updated 10:45 with photos, now that everything’s set up. Separate report upcoming with ongoing coverage)
We’ll be reporting “live” from West Seattle Summer Fest (co-sponsored by WSB) starting later this morning – vendor hours today, 10 am-6 pm; music, past 9! – but first, one more practical preview: A few notes about what’s different this year, if you’re heading out based on memories of last year. First, the stages – one is at the north end of the festival zone on California north of Oregon (near the Art Dive and beer garden) – right across from the West Seattle Eagles:

The other stage is on the west side of Alaska/California instead of the east end – that’s primarily for non-band performances. Here’s what IS on the east end of Alaska: Junction Plaza Park is open at the northwest corner of 42nd/Alaska (dedicated last week). Last year, the site held a beer garden to raise money for park completion. This year, it’s “just” a park – so check it out if you haven’t already, take a break on its benches, seating walls, grass … There are activities nearby – for example (from the list on this page of non-music activities/entertainment), that’s where the Rat City Rollergirls‘ dunk tank is scheduled to be. The Community Tent, too, where you’ll find neighborhood groups and other cool local nonprofits. There also are food vendors along SW Alaska both east and west of the “Walk-All-Ways” intersection – in recent years, they’ve been only on the west side. Also on the west end of SW Alaska, the Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone (presented by Clowns Unlimited, which sells tickets – otherwise Summer Fest is free), is by Wells Fargo. (Note it’s in two parts – some in SW Alaska street, some north of Wells Fargo’s drive-thru):

New this year: strong>GreenLife at Summer Fest, the sustainability/gardening expo presented by Sustainable West Seattle and West Seattle Nursery, is on the west side of California at Edmunds – between Technical Analysis and the hot-yoga studio:

Direct links: General festival map here; specific map with numbered vendor locations here (alphabetized list with numbers can be found here); live music schedule here, other activities/entertainment here, our overnight note about road and bus changes here. In addition to ongoing coverage here – plus the other news of the day/night – we’ll also tweet photos and quick updates at twitter.com/westseattleblog. See you at Summer Fest! We’re in the info booth again this year, south of the stage that’s in front of KeyBank.

GenHillOne July 9, 2010 (9:47 am)

Can you confirm that the “enter only” and “exit only” gates shown on the map with numbered vendor locations are maybe meant for vendor/production set-up and not the public? I had a little panic attack thinking that we were going to have to walk around the whole event to enter from the east en masse…not appealing. I don’t see anything on the other links about new entrance points, and common sense says it would be impossible to enforce, but it could be misleading, especially for folks who haven’t attended before.

WSB July 9, 2010 (10:51 am)

Yes. You can enter from all sides. I have walked the entirety of the festival zone. There are some fences in places you haven’t seen them before (like along the alley behind Easy Street et al, where part of the kids’ bouncer zone is, since it’s a ticketed area), but otherwise, walk in wherever.

Dan July 9, 2010 (9:50 am)

Where is a list of the vendors and where they are, not just booth numbers? For instance, I want to find out where you are. I couldn’t find that out from any of your links. Did I miss it?

WSB July 9, 2010 (10:50 am)

Hi there – the vendor list is linked in the story. Or just go to
http://www.westseattlefestival.com
.
We were waiting till setup was complete because we didn’t know exactly where the Information Booth would wind up. It’s set up now – close to its location in past years – at Alaska/California. (Look for the big VERIZON – festival main sponsor – tent; the info booth is immediately north, and we are on the west side, facing the newly relocated community stage by KeyBank.) See you here!

HelperMonkey July 9, 2010 (10:04 am)

Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone?

toodles July 9, 2010 (11:28 am)

Such wholesum family fun ain’t it?

Jen July 9, 2010 (11:34 am)

I see the stage is tilted for better beer garden viewing… nice! Thanks, West Seattle Blog… you always have the answers!

T Frances July 9, 2010 (11:39 am)

Does anyone know where Animals First Foundation is setup? (Hotwire Coffeehouse donated their space to Animals First and I’m trying to find them).

WSB July 9, 2010 (11:49 am)

I walked around earlier and aside from “Rummage Sale for Cats” in front of Next to Nature, didn’t see anything obvious, but setup was still in progress … I’m planning to take another spin around in a bit to see anyone I missed, since these are the kind of questions we and Patti from the West Seattle Chamber are getting at the info booth … TR

T Frances July 9, 2010 (12:07 pm)

Thanks Tracy…just checked one of Animals First Foundation member’s facebook page…they are setup in front of Capers! Going to check outall of their dog and cat toys!

Julia B July 9, 2010 (12:09 pm)

Do you know if there will be a bike lockup area? We’d love to ride up tomorrow, but I didn’t see information here or on the Summer Fest website about it. Thanks!

berge July 9, 2010 (12:12 pm)

Does anyone know if Omar Torres is playing at Elliott Bay Brewery this year? He’s played every year for the past few years, but I can’t find info on the brewery’s website or the festival’s website.
Thanks!