If you haven’t browsed the Art Dive at West Seattle Summer Fest 2011, come back and take a look. WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz found Jon, above, with … coyote, um, memorabilia. Not from here, he insists, from NY. Another sight not to be missed, even if you’re not participating – Hack-cycle, which has yielded some creations, like this one we saw circling around by Junction Plaza Park:

Now that Night 2 of Summer Fest is under way, the people are the sights – whether artists, vendors, performers, or festivalgoers. One of the final activities of the day in the informal California/Alaska performance area was belly-dancer Nadira:

Hers was the second belly-dancing performance of the day; one more is scheduled tomorrow (1 pm), after the noon “Minute to Win It” presented by TILA Real Estate. Meantime, music goes till midnight tonight – Curtains For You is up at 7:30, The Bend at 8:45, The Staxx Brothers at 10 pm, and Head Like A Kite wraps up the night at 11:15 pm. And you never know when you might see performers just wandering in the street – it happened just a little while ago:

Food stands are open till 8, but lots of Junction restaurants are open longer, and many have outdoor seating. Most of the vendors have rolled up too. We’ll have some more photos/video to add later, including many more sights from Day 2!

(Scroll down for updates – we’re adding photos and video as the afternoon goes on)

As several of the many awesome people we’ve been able to talk with here at the West Seattle Summer Fest Information Booth (California/Alaska) have observed – the weather is PERFECT. Sunny but not hot. The spirited breeze from yesterday hasn’t kicked up so far, either. The activity area near here has just revved up too – Rob Roy from Fresh Bistro won the veggie-dog-eating contest; Troupe Hipnotica‘s belly dancing is happening now.

Afternoon-long coverage, in the hours ahead; check out our Day 2 “guide” here if you haven’t already. And look closely at booths and stores’ outdoor tables as you wander along – you’ll find drawings as well as freebies – here for example is something for which you can buy a raffle ticket outside the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon):

WSB contributor Deanie Schwarz took the photo and reports, “Jan Haring and Kim Roper are at the Senior Center Stop and Shop. They and 20 or so other WS seniors made their annual group quilt for a drawing at Rainbow Bingo Night at the Center on Oct. 28th. The 78″ x 92″ textile art ‘Alki Sound’ will be on display at the Senior Center until the drawing.” Deanie also checked out the Art Dive (California SW north of SW Oregon), where she found acrylic artist Hoogen – whose work, she notes, is currently on display at Zippy’s Giant Burgers in White Center:

Nice shirt! (That’s the back of the Lowman Brau T-shirt, a popular item of West Seattle garb we’ve seen here – you can now get Summer Fest T-shirts just SOUTH of the Verizon booth that’s south of the info booth, instead of here in the info booth.)

2:36 PM: Uh-oh, Jeff Gilbert from Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor), the Lowman Brau brainstormer, just popped down and told us only 10 of those T-shirts are left, up at the beer garden by the stage/Eagles aerie (California between Genesee and Oregon). Meantime, also stopping by, city Chief Technical Officer and West Seattleite Bill Schrier, who tweeted a pic of your editor here. In the house with us at the moment, the Admiral Neighborhood Association and Fairmount Community Association reps at the “community/neighborhood table” next to ours on the east side, and the West Seattle Be Prepared team is still in the house next to us on the west side.

3:20 PM: That’s the popular Rat City Brass, one of this afternoon’s featured acts up on the stage (remember, there’s ONE music stage). And if you’d like to watch somebody paint, “live,” go see Joseph outside Twilight Artist Collective (SW Alaska just west of California):

4:05 PM: We checked in on the kid zone – Lashanna from Pathfinder K-8 is there; they’re coordinating the free art activities again this year:

Good turnout!

And Clowns Unlimited brings the bouncy rides and climbing wall (if you missed it earlier, here’s the pricing info and hours):

The bouncy rides are scheduled to be in operation till 8 tonight. And keep your eyes peeled to see who’s circulating – the reigning Hi-Yu senior court stopped by the booth (we just missed a photo of them asking a little girl to show her ‘princess wave’):

Also roving to check out the Summer Fest scenes, WSB contributor Stephanie Chacharon – who spotted these two:

Stephanie explains, “We caught Tilo and Imari Calkins dancing in the street while manning the T-shirt booth for David Groves of Seattle Logo Pro. The sisters, who live near Alki, attend Summer Fest every year. If you need to get your hands on a tee, look for these ladies — we bet they’ll still be dancing.” (Note the “West Side” tees, too.)

At 10 am, the biggest of West Seattle Summer Fest‘s three days begins in The Junction. Vendors are scheduled to be open till 8 pm; music goes till 11 pm. Above, the map. Below, some highlights:

MUSIC – ALL ON THE CALIFORNIA-NORTH-OF-OREGON STAGE: Here’s the lineup. The live music starts at noon with Eight Legs to Nowhere. Continues till midnight (Head Like a Kite at 11:15 pm is the last group) – with longtime faves including Rat City Brass at 2:30 pm, Rachel Harrington at 3:45, Massy Ferguson at 5.

LIVE PERFORMANCES AT CALIFORNIA/ALASKA: These are not in the festival guide – but the first ones of the day are a hot-dog-eating contest at 1 pm, Troupe Hipnotica belly dancing at 1:30 pm, Evergreen Tang Soo Do martial-arts demonstration at 2 pm, Sugar Rush cake-eating contest at 3 pm, “adorable child dancers” at 4 pm, Nadira at 5 pm, West Seattle Hi-Yu at 6 pm.

SUMMER FEST KIDS’ AREA: Open 10 am-8 pm today. The rides are at SW Alaska and 44th SW, a few on Alaska, the rest in the Wells Fargo parking lot to the north. Here’s our earlier report with full details on the rides and the pricing. But there are free activities too – like the art zone coordinated by Pathfinder K-8.

ART DIVE: Look for the big tent on California SW north of SW Oregon. Too many participants to list in the guide, but we got a sneak peek from coordinators Twilight Artist Collective in this earlier report (hair extensions!).

HACK-CYCLE: Bring that neglected/no-longer-needed bike, and use cool tools to make something new (and hopefully still rideable) out of it. The Hack-cycle zone is on SW Alaska east of California, across from Junction Plaza Park. Here’s our preview story, with metal artist Rusty Oliver explaining what it’s all about (or if you don’t have a bike, drop by to help provide human power!).

GREENLIFE: The sustainability zone is in a parking lot on the south end, just past Bikram Yoga, and east of the 44th/Edmunds Chase drive-thru. Today’s demonstrations start at 11 am with “Green Cleaning Materials,” and continue till “Making Beer at Home” at 5 pm. Full schedule here.

FESTIVAL FOOD: Most of the food booths are on SW Alaska on both sides of California – but note that many of the area restaurants in The Junction to serve you day in, day out, night in, night out are offering something special, like in more than a few cases, outdoor seating … so wander the whole area to have a look BEFORE you get hungry!

INFORMATION BOOTH: If you just can’t find someone – or have another question – or want to say hi to reps from neighborhood groups, West Seattle Chamber of Commerce, West Seattle Junction Association, and WSB (hi!) – you’ll find them all in the info booth is in the heart of the festival area, Walk-All-Ways at California/Alaska.

Before we move on to West Seattle Summer Fest 2011 Day 2, we have a multitude of photos still to share from Day (and Night) 1 – above, of course, The Fastbacks’ reunion, and below, the crowd:

Summer Fest was full of unscheduled moments – like a Seattle Police sergeant atop Seattle Fire’s Ladder 11 as its ladder was extended during its visit alongside Junction Plaza Park:

Also extended: The arms of Feedback Lounge (WSB sponsor) co-proprietor Jeff Gilbert, in the midday sunshine:

Many more photos, after the jump:

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