HAPPENING NOW: West Seattle Summer Fest day 2, first report

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(QUICK LINKS: Music lineups … vendor list … food and drink … Kids Zone info)

Good morning! The second, and biggest, day of West Seattle Summer Fest has just begun. Things are semi-quiet in the first hour, but it’ll rev up soon enough. Today in the heart of Walk-All-Ways, you’ll see some dancing – Jennifer Cepeda and DancePowered are scheduled to be back around noon with the medley they performed Thursday night, for one. Noon is also when the Main Stage – by the Post Office on California south of Genesee – gets going, with a showcase by Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) students. In front of KeyBank, The Big Dark Corner – named for the local record label programming it for the first time – starts up at 1:45 pm. (See the music lineups here.)

The main stage actually has had one event so far today – Maari Falsetto from Inner Alchemy brought her free Saturday morning “Heavily Meditated” free group meditation to the mainstage – WSB contributor Macey Wurm tells us about it:

Inner Alchemy and friends rose early this morning to start off Summer Fest with what they call “Heavily Meditated.” About 50 people gathered beneath the main stage, assembling chairs and mats in oval formation. The meditation session led by Maari Falsetto included practicing a 30-minute Kirtan Kriya Meditation and gong bath.

Folks gathered today were here to “anchor the intention of community, connection, truth, and harmony, according to Maari. The group began the guided Kirtan Kriya meditation, repeating the mantra “Sat Nam” or “truth is my identity. It was broken down into four sections– “Sa” meaning “life,” “Ta” meaning “death,” “Na” meaning “transformation”, and “Ma” meaning “rebirth”. The mantra was chanted outloud, at a whisper, and internally throughout the session.

Maari brought the group back and invited everyone to open their eyes after a gong bath and wind chimes. They gathered for a post-meditation picture, and Maari reminded the group of Inner Alchemy’s free Saturday meditation sessions– done in the forest over the summer! Registration is required.

“We are blessing West Seattle this morning, aren’t we!”, one participant mused.

Inner Alchemy is a year-round Junction-based business. If you haven’t already seen it, here’s our list of what some other year-round busnesses are doing on Summer Fest weekend. Much more festival coverage to come!

12:02 PM: As previewed, future Junction business Anchorhead Coffee has a pop-up in front of their future location at the ex-Starbucks on the southeast California/Alaska corner:

Speaking of food and beverage, the Junction Association wants to remind you about the sustainability that’s part of it all again this year:

That photo from The Porch – the name for the food/beverage zone in the lot behind KeyBank and The Missing Piece – shows two major ways: Free water-bottle refills (several locations, including The Porch and near the beverage arden by the main stage. And it shows some of the MANY bins for depositing your reusable dishes and cutlery after you buy food/drink from a visiting vendor – PLEASE be sure to return yours when done – not just to help with the “zero waste” goal, but also to keep WSJA – a nonprofit that shells out plenty to make this festival happen – from having to cover the cost.

12:30 PM: DancePowered’s California/Alaska performance, a Summer Fest tradition most years, is wrapping up – video ~~soon~~ here:

We’re also at the Mode students’ main stage performance – video below, Ashton Wecker – you may have seen Ashton busking at the Farmers’ Market:

12:42 PM: Irish dancing right now in Walk-All-Ways! And just east of there, on SW Alaska, the Kids Zone offers a combination of free and ticketed fun – this year, the West Seattle Arcade games are back:

1:30 PM: All weekend here in the Info Booth, you’ll find not just us but Junction Association volunteers with merch and swag info, plus community organizations including, right now, Seal Sitters Marine Mammal Stranding Network: