(WSB coverage of 2012 Summer Fest Friday is here and here)

FIRST REPORT, 1:31 PM: The fog’s gone, the afternoon sun is shining in full force on West Seattle Summer Fest’s second afternoon, as you can see on the SDOT “live” cam that’s right over our HQ in the Info Booth (southwest corner of California/Alaska) with West Seattle Chamber of Commerce volunteers. We’re launching continuous coverage in a moment – but first the quick links for info before you go (or while you’re there!) –

Vendor list and map: 3 ways to browse – searchable list, PDF list, zoomable map
Music schedule: Here
Alaska Stage schedule: Here
GreenLife schedule: Here

(added) The Alaska Stage is where Rat City Brass kicked off today’s performances:

GreenLife is on the west side of the south end of the festival zone, just south of Bikram Yoga (WSB sponsor) – and Sustainable West Seattle president Christina Hahs just came by the Info Booth to tell us they’ve got COUPONS you might be interested in – including discounts on Cedar Grove Compost, and 10 percent off the just-moved Greendepot in SODO.

GreenLife is one place where Summer Fest exhibitors are educational as well as fun. Then there’s the community booth along the east side of California SW south of Alaska – where West Seattle Be Prepared‘s Deb Greer and Karen Berge are on duty now, talking with folks about preparedness:

Once again today, the kids’ activities are a big focus of Info Booth questions – if you’re here with little ones, be sure to check out the rides on the west end of SW Alaska as well as everything in the Wells Fargo lot – you’ll even find this – not exactly the Seattle Great Wheel, but perfect for little ones:

2:34 PM UPDATE: The “Guns ‘n’ Hoses” Wing Dome three-alarm-wing contest is over – and the winners are:

That’s the Seattle Police team. They won, four to one, in individual matches like this:

They won $250 – and there was a $125 prize for the Seattle Fire Department team, whose members, we’re told, were from nearby Station 32:

Also here at the heart of the festival, live painting’s happening with artists from Seattle Mural Art, outside Twilight Artist Collective (just around the corner from Easy Street Records):

Twilight also organizes the Art Dive, north of Oregon – don’t miss it! That’s also where you’ll find the West Seattle Hi-Yu float (this year’s theme, “Secret Garden,” preview it before next Saturday’s WS Grand Parade!) Meantime, Hi-Yu royalty and volunteers have been wandering the festival selling buttons ($1, and it supports the program that includes Seattle’s last community parade float!) – and then if they spot someone wearing one, they’re handing out random prizes! Here’s Queen Kayli with one of the winners, Cherie:

More to come!

4:07 PM UPDATE: After a very brief rainshower, which required a tarp for the chalk-art project we’ve been watching for two days …

… it’s dry – with filtered sunshine. The rain didn’t seem to chase anyone away – it’s a steady stream of people. And besides music on the California Stage, there are also lots of performers along the sidewalks, in the middle of the street … and at venues like Red Cup Espresso just north of SW Oregon:

(Thanks to @youngsgtweet for the photo!)

5:08 PM UPDATE: Another hot topic in the info booth: Festival food. Yes, there are fair-style traditions like deep-fried peanut-butter sandwiches, strawberry shortcake, etc:

Some Junction restaurants are also taking it outside their regular spots – Matador and Bang Bar both have a presence in the food zone on SW Alaska, west of California. We spotted Nadia in the crowd; she’s performing at Bang Bar at 6 pm:

Tonight’s official fair hours are till 8, although some booths do close earlier – the music continues till 11 tonight, with The DTs at 6, The Tom Price Desert Classic around 7:30, Alcohol Funnycar around 8:30, and Pierced Arrows last up, at 10 pm. We hear the beer gardens are rocking today, too – they’re by both stages, the Alaska Stage by Junction Plaza Park, and the California Stage on California north of Oregon. We mentioned earlier that there’s music outside the stage, too – Sarah e-mailed to share a photo and more info about something to look for toward the south end of the festival zone:

A fun highlight from the West Seattle street festival was free drumming lessons for kids at Nana Yesman’s African Crafts Booth across from Northwest Art and Frame. Nana Yesman (Aminu Adamu) is a resident of West Seattle and works at PCC Natural Markets. He makes and sells jewelry using beads from his native country Ghana. He also sells other handmade arts and crafts from Ghana, including djembe drums … tomorrow (Sunday) at noon, he is offering free drumming lessons to kids.

5:46 PM: Just a note, if you’re coming tomorrow (or if you’re in the area tonight), if you stop by here at the Info Booth, we have lots of info about other summer activities. That includes tomorrow’s West Seattle Garden Tour – 9 am to 5 pm! – and White Center Garden Tour – 10 am to 4 pm. And since there’s a big West Seattle Outdoor Movies banner hanging in the back of the booth, we’ve gotten plenty of takers for the WSOM schedule flyers – they start Friday night (July 20th) with a special benefit event for Thrive Through Cancer (the movie is “50/50” – not recommended for young kids) and then the first of six Saturday night movies (July 21st) – “Pretty in Pink,” with Bob “Bobcat Bob” Rice as the opening act. The movies are on the wall in the courtyard next to Hotwire Online Coffeehouse (WSB sponsor).

7:15 PM: Booths are starting to close up; sun from the west is intensifying. Above, the view a few minutes ago from our perch. We’ll be back in the Info Booth tomorrow for day 3, when Summer Fest opens an hour later so everyone can recover from Saturday night – 11 am.

ADDED: A few more Summer Fest Saturday scenes. At GreenLife, Occupy West Seattle presented an open-mike speakout on whether the economy is sustainable. A gallery was shared with us by Dina Johnson, who also spoke:

Dina says she talked “of the massive and skyrocketing gulf between the richest one percent of households (red line) and the rest, creating an unhealthy imbalance in economic and political power – in favor of the super-rich.” She reports 21 speakers in all.

On the main festival ground, WSB contributor Nick Adams shows us a closer look at the mentioned-earlier street art that’s been under way all festival long outside the Verizon megabooth (steps away from our spot at Info Central):

And a vendor with his wares: Hatterdashery’s owner Michael Loeffler, making a hat during the festival:

One more chance Sunday to check the sidewalk sales, see friends and neighbors, enjoy the music … see you there.