(WSB photo: Last Saturday’s flag event in advanceof Alki Beach Pride)

One week from today – on Saturday, August 15 – Alki Beach Pride returns, with a street party and more! Alki residents Stacy and Jolie Bass-Walden created Alki Beach Pride more than a decade ago to boost LGBTQIA+ visibility beyond June, and it’s been a smashing success, bigger every year, collaborating with local businesses. Even if you’re not attending, you should be aware that Alki Beach Pride is in part a street party again this year, with Alki Avenue SW closed from 7 am to 10 pm between 57th and 61st. The official festival hours are noon to 8 pm, with:

Live entertainment

Health and wellness zone

Local LGBTQ vendors

Food trucks

Social group gatherings at local participating businesses

Mew family-friendly kids’ zone

and more….

The entertainment lineup rolled out so far includes comedy, DJs, and drag – including the kings.

(Part of the Saturday night crowd – aerial photo by Paul Weatherman)

West Seattle’s biggest party of the year is over – and it won’t be long until the planning for next year’s Summer Fest begins. First, the West Seattle Junction Association – which presents the festival (and so many other events!) – wants your feedback on this year’s festival, so it’s launched a survey – you can answer it here

One more look at our as-it-happened coverage, with video and photos, from our 24 total hours (and then some):

Day 1, first report (Friday afternoon)
Day 1, second report (Friday evening)
Day 2, first report (Saturday morning/afternoon)
Day 2, second report (Saturday afternoon/evening)
Day 3 (Sunday morning/afternoon)

P.S. The Junction Association also is offering Summer Fest 2026 merch at a discount, so if you regret not buying some, you have another chance!

10:44 AM: The Theo McGaughey Trio is opening West Seattle Summer Fest‘s third and final day with instrumental jazz at The Big Dark Corner (aka KeyBank Plaza), today’s one and only festival music stage, because the West Seattle Farmers’ Market is on the block north of Oregon where the main stage was. The corner has an eclectic lineup of performers all day:

11:00 Allwaye
11:45 Malty & The Rain (Acoustic)
12:45 J Skip
1:30 Tobi Kunkel
2:30 Melina’s Birthday Set
3:30 Better As Brass
4:00 Trombone King

We’re also told “the balloon guy” will be back at California/Alaska in the early afternoon. More sights and sounds of Summer Fest as the day goes on – get here by 5 pm, because that’s when West Seattle’s biggest party wraps till next year! Missed our as-it-happens coverage the past two days with lots of photos and video? Scroll through this archive!

11:38 AM: The Farmers’ Market, on California NORTH of Oregon this week only, has a full lineup of summer produce today – including cherries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, stone fruits – fresh flowers too:

End time is the usual 2 pm. While we were on the way up for a look, this T-shirt caught our eye:

That’s one of the local-themed T-shirts at Sweet Pea and Boy, a vendor whose booth is across from Camp West’s outdoor café. (And if you’re interested in an official Summer Fest T-shirt, head down to the Mobile Apparel booth just north of our Info Booth spot, across from Easy Street Café – they have other West Seattle-themed shirt designs too.

We’ve been talking all weeken about the year-round local businesses and their Summer Fest specials … if you have room in your life for a house plant, stop by the Discovery Shop, where the proceeds fun the fight against cancer:

12:12 PM: On the corner stage right now, an acoustic set by Malty and The Rain:

12:42 PM: If you’re playing the Fourth Emerald Games “Safari Junction” Pokémon scavenger hunt, it’s all wrapping up in less than an hour – redemption deadline is 1:30.

Josh from Fourth Emerald just told us they’ve given out more than 2,400 cards – and more than 100 complete applications so far – way more than they expected. Players have been looking for 40 different Pokémon, and for every 10 they find, they get a card pack.

1:36 PM: Another year-round Junction business that’s had something special all weekend – Jet City Labs/Revelry Room has had a long lineup of DJs. We went over for a pic just now when proprietor Derek Moon himself – DJ Mr. Moon – was delivering the beats:

Bubbles are back at Walk-All-Ways:

And if that’s not enough bubbles for the youngest festivalgoers, the foam party is back in action in the Kids Zone again today (there’s an admission charge).

You’ve got a little more than three hours left to get here – and/or get back for another look.

2:08 PM: Easy Street Records, legendary for its signage, has been displaying that one at the corner. Next Saturday, we should note, will be another happy time in The Junction (and beyond) – the West Seattle Grand Parade, on California from Lander southbound to Edmunds, starting at 11 am Saturday (July 18) – we’ll have another preview starting tonight. (And for a fun time before the parade, run/walk in the Float Dodger 5K on the parade route!). The parade is presented by the foundation arm of the Rotary Club of West Seattle (WSB sponsor), which has a booth at the south end of the festival.

2:56 PM: Just wrapped up at The Big Dark Corner stage, Melina’s Birthday Party, which drew an enthusiastic singalong crowd:

At 3:30 pm, local brass band Better As Brass is scheduled to get brassy and sassy at the corner … We’ve had fun again today meeting all the people who’ve stopped by to say hi – thank you!

3:46 PM: The band actually got going a bit early, opening with the decidedly brassy “Crazy in Love” (Beyoncé) and continuing through a set list currently on Britney Spears’s “Toxic.” Here’s what we recorded – a Wham! classic:

One more hour to try something new – maybe the non-alcoholic coladas in whole pineapples, or New Zealand style ice cream all the way from Highland Park …or something from Natalie’s, up rom Alki Beach …and if you’ve brought a furry friend, now that it’s the warmest time of the afternoon, remember they can take a break outside Next to Nature.

4:07 PM: Just in, WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen‘s video of singer-songwriter Tobi Kunkel:

And from a galaxy far, far away …

The final musical act of the day, who goes by The Trombone King, is now providing the soundtrack to the last hour of Summer Fest 2026:

We remember him from his busking at the festival in years past.

And here’s our reminder that West Seattle Summer Fest is brought to you by the West Seattle Junction Association, the nonprofit merchants’ association, and some of the year’s other events raise money to help cover the costs – other WSJA-presented events yet to come this year include the Glass Float Hunt (August 7-14), Wine Walk (next one September 18), Harvest Festival (October 25), and Hometown Holidays (this year’s tree-lighting festival will be on December 5).

5 PM: Thanks for another fun Summer Fest! The breakdown has begun …

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

4:57 PM: The Black Whales played at mid-afternoon on the West Seattle Summer Fest main stage (on California between Oregon and Genesee), one of two festival venues where you’ll find music right now. The north end of the festival zone is where SW Oregon is closed for the first time, and besides enabling a better flow of festivalgoers, it’s also created a bonus zone for food and beverages:

That’swhere you will find the non-alcoholic coladas in whole pineapples, as well as burgers and the New Zealand-style ice cream from Highland Park Corner Store that we mentioned Friday, Tip Top Ice Cream (look for the bike). Traveling southbound along the west side of the Oregon-to-Alaska block, you’ll also see the mobile romance bookstore Beguiled:

And for a second day, the Fourth Emerald Games Pokémon scavenger hunt seems to be hugely popular. More to come as we move into late afternoon and early evening!

5:23 PM: Thanks to Paul Weatherman for the aerial views – above is “The Porch,” the all-ages zone in the lot at the southeast corner of 44th and Alaska, with food, beverages (including alcohol), and places to sit and enjoy them. He also sent this view of Walk-All-Ways and northward (where we’re in the Info Booth throughout the festival):

Further north, Massy Ferguson was on the main stage last hour – WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen recorded video:

5:40 PM: Though the idea of an outdoor watch party during Summer Fest didn’t take flight, some local venues are full of enthusiastic fans watching today’s matches – this was the scene during Norway vs. England:

Jason got that pic of soccer fans watching at The Beer Junction. Meantime, we just got a question about tomorrow – yes, the Farmers’ Market IS on – it’ll be on California north of Oregon as it’s been for the past few festivals, as the Main Stage will be decommissioned after tonight’s bands.

7:06 PM: Thanks to Jerry Simmons for this bubbly festival photo:

We’ve arrived at the final official festival hour of the day, though music will continue until 11-ish. One of the most fun things about the festival has little to do with vendors, food, or music … it’s seeing friends and neighbors as what seems like everyone on the peninsula converges on The Junction for the weekend. We get to see a lot of people we mostly know from email the rest of the year. Like someone who just stopped by the booth, Perla X. Caballero of the Morbidly Curious Book Club, one of several book clubs whose monthly meetings are listed on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar (always free – send West Seattle event info to westseattleblog@gmail.com).

8:32 PM: We’ve left but expect to have more music clips to post later. Tomorrow instead of a stage, the area north of SW Oregon will hold the Farmers’ Market, 10 am-2 pm as usual. Festival hours will be 10 am-5 pm. See you there!

10:10 PM: Thanks again to Paul Weatherman for more aerials – this time, evening views of the stage/beverage garden area tonight!

11:23 PM: And here’s what it was like on the ground:

That’s from WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen, who also recorded clips of most of tonight’s bands, starting with Chewing Gum (recently showcased in an Easy Street show) at The Big Dark Corner:

On the main stage, Bog Ogre:

Bexley:

Dark Chisme:

And True Loves:

No main stage music on Summer Fest Sundays, but The Big Dark Corner starts up at 10 am.

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

10:55 AM: 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:

And student band Honey All Right performed during the Mode spotlight, too:

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:

And the Southwest Seattle Historical Society:

Both have brought interesting items to see – like this at the SWSHS table:

1:52 PM: We sent Macey out to look for unique vendors we haven’t featured yet – here’s one she found:

Simple Modern Living

The Simple Modern living booth, run by outdoor-fanatics Sara and Sawyer, features topography maps on bottle openers, coasters, keychains, magnets, and pillows! The coaster sets are made of poplar and eco-felt with a matte wood finish.

Lots and lots of handmade items! And here’s the collision of dumplings and keychains:

Fin and Feather

Build your own dim sum keychains. You can pick three miniature “buns” coming in different animals and characters. Then, choose the color of your steamer basket for the buns to create the keychain! All supplies are locally 3-D printed in Kirkland.

Also happening now, The Big Dark Corner has launched its lineup of music – video shortly.

2:38 PM: That’s a bit of Bonita Fishwife‘s set.

3:28 PM: As we’ve noted many a time, Summer Fest began as a sidewalk sale for Junction merchants – that part of the tradition continues for many of those here now – Paper Boat Booksellers (4522 California SW; WSB sponsor) is having a sale all weekend, as mentioned in our local-all-year-biz roundup:

In the same block, look for the West Seattle Food Bank booth – and buy a fundraising raffle ticket:

That’s Whit with the tickets – just $10 each … One more nonprofit note, Hope School is running the Kids Zone today – you can say hi to Sally and crew:

We’re going to launch the day’s second SummerFest report shortly, after a break for some other news.

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

6:04 PM: At West Seattle Summer Fest, the crowd has grown steadily, especially now that the workday is over. Main-stage music continues – here’s the second band of the day, Chico Detour:

That’s their song “Crying at My Party.” As main-stage music continues, The Big Dark Corner is just getting going at California/Alaska by KeyBank, a new space this year – programmed by West Seattle’s The Big Dark Records. And you have a wide variety of choices for dinner and drinks – The Porch in the lot behind KeyBank, stands on that side of SW Alaska, some vendors on newly pedestrian-only SW Oregon, the beverage garden by the main stage ..

… and of course all the year-round local venues, many with outdoor cafés. Coordinators say it’s gone smoothly so far. Updates to come!

6:25 PM: That’s Leonard Jarvey and The Sock Monkeys, opening the night at The Big Dark Corner. Still to come there tonight – Sad Dad Autumn at 7, Across 35th at 7:30. Meantime, over in the Kids Zone, the foam party’s back this year:

7:39 PM: A bit of Zookraught and their dance-punk sound on the main stage:

And Across 35th has a throng at The Big Dark Corner – video:

8:20 PM: Vendors are wrapping up for the day, since the festival’s official end time – not counting music – was 8 pm. Here at the Info Booth, most everything’s rolled up too, except our table, and we’re packing up shortly (after one more band – added, here’s that video of Blackie:)

The night wraps up with Alien Crime Syndicate at 10 pm.

ADDED 11:45 PM: Thanks to WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen for clips from the night’s last two main-stage bands – Caitlin & Brent with the Passenger String Quartet:

And Alien Crime Syndicate:

P.S. Thanks to the many kind people who stopped by our table to say hi – we’ll be back tomorrow, starting at 10 am.

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

1:59 PM: West Seattle Summer Fest 2026 is officially on, as of less than an hour ago, in The Junction. We’re here on the west side of the Info Booth, just north of the Walk-All-Ways intersection, and this is also where you’ll find West Seattle Junction Association volunteers to ask about merch, plus community nonprofits and city departments – right now the West Seattle YMCA (WSB sponsor) is here, as is the city Office of Housing (here primarily to talk about services available to low-income homeowners). As noted earlier, it’s not just about visiting vendors, but also a chance to learn about year-round businesses, like Fitness Together West Seattle:

FTWS is a WSB sponsor, based here in The Junction; another sponsor is here in The Junction this weekend, West Seattle Coworking, which has two regular locations, 9030 35th SW and 3703 California SW:

Main-stage music starts at 4 pm (up by the Post Office as always) – here’s the schedule for today/tonight:

4:00 Ghost Fetish
5:00 Chico Detour
6:00 Thee Deception
7:00 Zookraught
8:00 Blackie
9:00 Caitlin & Brent w/ the Passenger String Quartet
10:00 Alien Crime Syndicate

Lots to see in the hours till then – for example, you can talk to authors at the Author Event Network booth:

3:33 PM: Popular question every Summer Fest, “where are the face painters?”

On the raised midblock crosswalks again this year! Meantime, if you’re checking out food and drink, be sure to venture into The Porch, in the lot behind KeyBank and The Missing Piece:

Lots of places to sit on that side of SW Alaska (west of California), too. And an IMPORTANT REMINDER: vendors are serving with reusable dishes and cutlery – please return them to the bins when you’re done! … While walking the south block of the festival, we noticed another place to ask quetions about a big project – Sound Transit has a booth:

Mainstage music starts up soon!

4:34 PM: Ghost Fetish is playing on the main stage right now -(update – here’s video:)

The Big Dark Corner, in front of KeyBank, starts its lineup at 6 pm.

4:55 PM: One of the hits of the festival so far – the Fourth Emerald Games “Pokémon thing,” as a couple of people who just came by the booth described it.(It’s a free scavenger hunt, listed in our local-biz roundup.)

5:22 PM: The weather’s been very pleasant today – 70ish, sunny. We’re about to switch over to an evening report but first …a dog enjoying the pool outside Next to Nature:

The crowd’s picking up big time … and we’re up getting some video of the second mainstage band; that’ll be in the evening report.

7:14 PM: A highlight of West Seattle Summer Fest Eve 2026 so far – Walk-All-Ways became Dance-All-Ways right after Jennifer Cepeda‘s DancePowered dancers put on a show:

The main stage on California between Oregon and Genesee is where you’ll see full slates of live music Friday and Saturday, and the Farmers’ Market pn Sunday. Tonight is also West Seattle Art Walk night – Dolly is crocheting outside VAIN:

Carmen Leslie is the guest artist at Verity CU:

(added) Carolyn Autenrieth is showing her work at CAPERS Home (WSB sponsor):

Many Junction food/beverage venues already have their outdoor cafés set up:

It’s a night to just hang out and/or wander with your friends:

Or if you feel like sharing your opinions, SDOT has a table in front of KeyBank until 8 pm with info about the new Junction parking study we reported on last week (with an online survey that’s open until July 27):

Right across SW Alaska, a line waited for tonight’s special sold-out performance by The Head and The Heart at Easy Street Records (free to buyers of the ESR-exclusive vinyl).

More on that later (in a separate story)!

9:54 PM: Some other Summer Fest Eve live music – we happened onto Aurora Ave at the KeyBank corner (which will be The Big Dark Corner, a performance space programmed by West Seattle’s own The Big Dark Records, during the festival):

And here’s a bit of The Disbarred Owls‘ set at the Elliott Bay Brewing festival café:

Check in here often during the festival – we’ll be on site for the duration, with lots of updates, info, photos, as it unfolds.

The barricades are up, and California Avenue SW is clear of motor vehicles in the heart of The Junction:

These lanes [map] won’t be empty long – it’s time to start setting up for West Seattle Summer Fest, which officially begns at 1 pm tomorrow – not just the vendor booths, stage, and Kids Zone, but also the year-round businesses’ sidewalk cafés, and more. Summer Fest Eve will also feature music and art, as previewed here last night, so we’ll be there this evening to report on what’s happening.

While West Seattle Summer Fest features many visiting vendors, the year-round West Seattle Junction merchants are at the heart of the festival – which started decades ago as a “sidewalk sale” for businesses, and continues as a festival presented by the merchants’ association. We’ll again be reporting on Summer Fest on-site all weekend, based at the Info Booth, and we want to be sure we don’t miss chances to spotlight local businesses – so if yours is having a Summer Fest sale, special, giveaway, activity, etc., please tell us about it so we can mention it! westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302 – thank you, and we’ll see you at Summer Fest on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!

(WSB photo, 2025 Admiral Block Party)

Before we get back to West Seattle Summer Fest previews – we just received the music lineup for next month’s Admiral Block Party! It’s expanding this year to start with acoustic music on Friday afternoon/evening and then the full day/night of music on Saturday. From the Admiral Neighborhood Association, which organizes the Block Party:

Friday, August 21st, Acoustic Mainstage

3 pm – Ashton Wecker
4 pm – Self Doubt
5 pm – Ben Bruce
6 pm – MoonGirl
7 pm – Acoustic Crisis
8 pm – close – local DJ

Saturday, August 22nd

11 am – WS Ukelele Players
12 pm – Sad Dad Autumn
1 pm – School of Rock
2 pm – Troy Aylesworth
3 pm – Billy Rosewarne
4 pm – The Royal Oui
5 pm – Not Dead Yet
6 pm – Bad Honey
7 pm – DAD Band
8 pm – NOVACHROME

And don’t forget, the ANA has another big music event ahead, the three-concert AMP series, starting next week. Back to the Block Party, one more message: “We are nearly out of vendor spots. There are 2 weeks to go to join us or when everything is full. People can go to this link to join us!”

We are now just two days away now from the peninsula’s biggest party of the year, West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction! We’ve been spotlighting some of what’s new this year, so right now we’re going to shine the light on Teen Night, a ticketed event this Saturday – here’s how festival organizers at the West Seattle Junction Association explain it:

Calling all teens (and parents who love seeing their kids have an unforgettable time) — this is the night you don’t want to miss during Summer Fest 2026.

Parents, you can feel good knowing your teens are in a safe, welcoming environment while you enjoy the Main Stage music and beverage garden from 8-9:30 pm on Saturday night, July 11th. We have four fun programming choices sure to thrill your teen.

• Mario Kart Race by 4th Emerald Games. Teams compete against each other for first place.
• Escape Room by Surelock Escapes – 13th Floor. Haunted tales and lost treasures. *Room shakes under controlled environment and may cause slight unsteadiness*
• Escape Room by Surelock Escapes – Spell Struck. Hidden mysterious woods and witches. *Players must climb a flight of stairs, and be able to bend/crawl*
• Board Games by The Missing Piece. A variety of your favorite board games along with snacks

$48 per teen – TICKETS HERE

More Summer Fest previews to come – including Summer Fest Eve tomorrow night after the streets close for setup!

Just four days until West Seattle’s biggest party of the year fills the heart of The Junction with sights, sounds, shopping, sips, food, fun, and thousands of your neighbors at West Seattle Summer Fest – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (July 10-12). Among this year’s new features – an expanded roster of ways to avoid going thirsty! As always, the Beverage Garden will be up by the main stage, on California north of Oregon. New this year, check out The Porch – an all-ages food and beverage zone on SW Alaska west of California, with beer, wine, cider, and hard agave (all offered at the beverage garden too – the menus for both areas are here). You’ll also be able to enjoy beverages as well as food from The Junction’s year-round restaurants/bars, many of which will have sidewalk cafés – see that list on that same page too. And a free way to stay hydrated is available too – water-refill stations – see the locations on the festival map above, and bring your water bottle (or look for Summer Fest merch). The festival officially starts at 1 pm Friday, but you can get a preview by wandering the streets after they close at 4 pm Thursday, the night that’s become known as Summer Fest Eve. See you there!

Time to start daily previews of West Seattle Summer Fest, happening next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – July 10 through 12 – in The Junction! (And of course you’re invited to start wandering the streets Thursday, July 9, for what’s become known as Summer Fest Eve, when the streets close so setup can begin!)

This year’s festival will have almost 200 vendors (listed here), a Kids Zone with the return of the foam party as well as a new water slide, two days/nights of main-stage live music (and three days of street-corner music, reusable cups and dishes, sidewalk cafés for your favorite year-round restaurants and bars, the Oregon/California intersection included in the festival zone for the first time, bike parking, pet pit stops … It’s West Seattle’s biggest party of the year and you’re invited. We’ll get into some specifics in the previews to come.

Dancer Navya Ramesh was one of today’s first main-stage performers at the Arts in Nature Festival, happening right now at Camp Long (5200 35th SW). But performances are just part of what the festival’s offering all day and into the evening, rain or shine:

Inside Camp Long’s legendary cabins, you’ll find “immersive installations” like the one above in Cabin 8, the “wind phone” from Sonic Switchyard – you can use the “phone” to leave a message for someone you cannot speak to, inspired by a memorial practice from the Fukushima tsunami. Recorded messages are played over speakers in the cabin. Then there’s very short range “Camp Long Radio” in Cabin 9.

And numerous community organizations – from environmental to educational – have reps to chat with you in the meadow:

As we type this, the sun is emerging, so it’s a great day to get out and go to the park; the Arts in Nature Festival, presented by DNDA, is on until 8 pm. See the festival lineups here

One of this weekend’s biggest events is the return of the Arts in Nature Festival, which DNDA is presenting Saturday at Camp Long (5200 35th SW) – free! Here are the music, performance, and art lineups:

Camp Long’s historic cabins will also host “immersive” art experiences during the festival, 10 am-8:30 pm Saturday (June 27).