Rant: Extremely Loud Music from Festival

[JanS]

I like to sleep in on Saturday mornings, too. But in 2 weeks there will be a parade on Calif. Ave. SW that starts right where I live. The bands, marching groups convene early and practice, sometimes over and over for a couple of hours before the parade starts. And then…the pirates set off their cannons. Talk about loud – wow ! But, you know what? It happens every year, once a year. I know it’s coming, and I don’t expect the world to be run according to my schedule. Life happens anyway. I don’t plan on moving because of it, not do I plan on complaining during the construction of the new Safeway across the street, just like I accept the SW delivery trucks at 2am.

No community is immune.

As an aside, someone brought up the Blue Angels, who will be here in a few weeks. I have seen infants sleep through their program on the shores of Lake Washington. I’m wondering if it wasn’t the heat keeping children awake, instead of the noise. The parents were maybe interested in their own comfort and sleep, perhaps? If baby is awake, so are they? Just a theory…hope you all get some cool, comfortable rest tonight :)

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[JanS]

oh, and lest you think that it’s very little to cmplain about, I also hear the bands playin g at Shipwreck when they have them, and I hear the music, etc. from Admiral Sanctuary if/when there’s a function there. I don’t expect any of them to shut it down at 10pm, so I can be comfortable.

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[mightymo]

The Junction is a business district with bars and clubs. Because the back lots are used for parking, it doesn’t have a lot of back patios, and the front sidewalk is relatively narrow so it doesn’t have a lot of sidewalk seating. Nevertheless, you don’t choose to move within a block of it without knowing that there’ll be a certain level of noise from businesses there.

As the economy turns around, there’s a chance that more places will open with outdoor seating and noise well past 10. That’s part of living in an urban area, and if there’s ever that sort of density growth in West Seattle it’ll probably be at one of the junctions. You pay extra for the convenience and also the possibility of a denser urban area. I’m actually pretty surprised how quiet West Seattle’s commercial centers are compared to many in the city. You can’t expect it to be quiet year round.

We recently moved about half a mile north of the Junction and didn’t notice any noise last night. Of course I grew up six blocks from Seattle Center so I got used to the two or three times a year we had music audible that far up the hill.

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[thee]

for a coupla days there, i thought the “sidewalk hog” rant was as nannyrific as WSB could get. I was wrong. So very, very wrong!

viva abuelas!

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[Gina]

In my neigborhood (Admiral) I can hear events using amplification on Alki. It only bothers me when the Christmas Ships come around. Because I realize I am missing their performance!

bebecat–remember how Hallmark, Meridith’s, Shafran’s and La Grace would haul out the same items every year to put on the card tables? Makes me wonder if that stuff is still in the basements of the businesses that took over, sitting in boxes, forgotten.

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[WSB]

Anybody care about a semi-behind-the-scenes perspective?

We spent virtually the entirety of the festival next to one of the stages – this year, the southernmost stage was moved to right in front of Key Bank. Last year it was on Alaska east of California. Previous year (and I can’t remember before that) it was at the Edmunds end of California. Also, disclosure, we are festival co-sponsors.

Sound DOES carry oddly in West Seattle. We are over the Fauntleroy ferry dock/Lincoln Park and yet we can hear the trains at night, all the way over from Harbor Island, despite the fact that means the sound has to carry over three ridges.

Anyway, if you have an opinion to express to the Junction Association, I’m sure they will appreciate a clear, simple “I live at X and the music was very loud at X time on X day/night.” Perhaps they will be able to compare that to feedback from years gone by when making the decisions for next year. There were many changes made and there will certainly be a feedback/debrief period coming up. There were even tweaks made during the festival – we know this because, since we were part of the info booth, we heard about some of the concerns expressed/actions taken.

For example, on the first morning, even before most festivalgoers arrived, it was clear that the main sponsor’s booth needed to ratchet down the music and continuous live sales pitch. They did. The music volume at the Alaska stage (near where we were) was experimented with, too, looking for a happy medium.

There are more outdoor concerts to come in West Seattle this summer and other neighborhoods will have to deal with those. Alki has at least three; Admiral has the Thursday night series ahead; Providence Mount St. Vincent has its August Friday night concerts. Just so you all know. Also, the Saturday night outdoor movies in The Junction (by Hotwire) start next Saturday night.

P.S. Gina, we’re nowhere near as native as you and yet I also remember when it was just a sleepy little sidewalk sale. We went one year and never bothered going back. The Junction Association took a turn a few years back to make this a bigger, better festival. Before we even had Forums, in March of 2007, Dave Montoure of West 5, on behalf of WSJA, asked if we would put out the question, what do you like/dislike about Summer Fest?

Think summer

40 comments was a lot for WSB for March 2007 (our traffic last year was six times what it was that year). But take a look at those comments

https://westseattleblog.com/2007/03/think-summer#comments

and see how it’s evolved. And help it keep evolving.

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[WSeaFam2]

People please step outside your little bubble and realize there are other people that do not get sucked up and revolve in your special wake..IT was ONE WEEKEND for Goodness sake!!!! Don’t spoil this for everyone by complaining to the Junction association. Stop being selfish put on your big girl/boy pants and walk it off you have a whole year to make plans to go away the next weekend it happens so if you don’t want to be around it you don’t have too

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[PDieter]

I’m just going to assume that Vanessa’s sense of decibels is about the same as her sense of distance and move on.

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[Blend]

I have a feeling Vanessa suffers from a rare disorder called Summerfesthatertoidosis.

But good news Vanessa..it’s totally curable with a pill you take once a day called. FESTAGRA. But be careful, Vanessa because there are side effects…

In clinical studies, patients reported the following common side effects while taking FESTAGRA:

* Diarrhea

* Upset stomach

* Muscle and joint pain

* Alterations in some laboratory tests

The following additional side effects have been reported with FESTAGRA:

* Tiredness

* Tendon problems

Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have side effects that bother you or that will not go away. These are not all the side effects of FESTAGRA. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a complete list.

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[celeste17]

Not to mention the trouble that Alki’s and my Chupy’s got into once they ended up at Matador’s sipping Tequila Margarita’s tonight. They really enjoyed the music and didn’t mind the traffic. Only rant was a car parked right in front of the ramp we use to get into and out of the house. But that was my fault for not putting the garbage can out to protect our spot when we went to church.

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[Ken]

Just to clear things up, I enjoyed the music even 1.5 miles away. I was reading on the back porch for most of it and enjoyed the light breeze that brought it to me as well.

They were much better bands than my local three chord wonders…

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[villagegreen]

Man, every time I feel like West Seattle is becoming a vibrant and thriving urban neighborhood, someone has to start complaining. It really is an easy fix – ear plugs and a fan for the baby. Damn, even if it was 4 weekends out of the year I bet you could handle it. The music schedule was published months in advance. Sometimes the enjoyment of the majority causes a slight inconveience for the minority. I’m sure at some point you’ve been in the majority. That’s the way a productive society gets along.

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[ksawka]

I agree. Use the ear plugs! If my wife snores I don’t wake her up to tell her to stop snoring. I put in my ear plugs and I sleep like a baby! There are better things to rant about. Next…

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[Blend]

Alki Rant…I would like to rant about the Ferries..they are always in the way of my view of the water. I would also like to rant about sand at Alki..it’s always getting in my shoes and my bag..can’t we just pave the whole beach?, also I would like to rant about the smell of pizza in the air from Slices..I like pizza but cannot eat it and it makes me hungry and mad that I cannot have it, I would also like to rant about people on those funny looking bikes for 10 people..they don’t know how to drive them and always stop in the middle of the path to take pictures and get ice cream from the ice cream truck. Why do these people have to have fun? those creeps!..also, I would like to rant about cracks in the sidewalk. I am always falling down on my roller skates. Ok, I need to go cry now..too much ranting….

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[WSeaFam2]

I agree STOP dwelling on the negative take each beautiful moment we are given each day..Take a breath.. ENJOY rinse and repeat

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[Blend]

now i am super depressed…is there a ‘Gun World’ in West Seattle? just asking. Maybe that is what they should put here instead of Trader Joes. Ok, I need to breathe and do my positive affirmations. The sun is not out today..ugh. why does the world hate me? Breathe Breathe Breathe

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[HolyKow]

The festival is awesome, we had a great time there and it is a boon for WS and all of her great citizens.

However….(how many people knew I was gonna say that!) that being said, I do not think it un-reasonable to keep the noise ordinance hours in effect. If this was in the middle of a cow pasture in Un-Inc. King Co., that would be one thing. But this is in the middle of a metro area. Fun can still be had by all on the “One Weekend per Year” festival, but others can also be respected by keeping it within the legal regionally approved parameters that we call the Noise Ordinance.

There is space in this argument for a Win / Win.

During the day, play it loud!

After the accepted noise ordinance time, fade it out please.

Personally, I have no issues with it, but I am not the law. The law is the law and we should all listen to it. Festivals included.

hk

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[bebecat]

There are 42+ comments in this RANT thread. There are just 4 comments in the RAVE thread about the street festival. This tells me 2 things. 1)Few people were impressed with the festival as a whole and 2) Those who disagree with the ranters just want to harass them.

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[twobottles]

bebecat, I beg to differ. In general (concert reviews, hotel reviews, restaurant reviews and so on), the most likely people to post are those that DISLIKE something. Most people, having gone to a nice restaurant, or a nice hotel, do not feel compelled to comment. However, whenever anyone has a negative experience, no matter how minor, they want to tell the world. I also believe that the second most common post in this type of thread, is from those that don’t agree (and honestly don’t agree) with the original rant/negative review.

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[villagegreen]

bebecat – ha! No Sherlock Holmes, I see.

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[thee]

oh… so close! one of the things that makes a classic WSB nannyrific rant is someone citing chapter and verse from the Seattle Municipal Code.

on the bright side, only 45 posts. There is still plenty of time!

http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/code1.htm

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[sam-c]

from time to time, we could hear the music too, and we aren’t close. I’m torn. I’d agree with villagegreen’s comments about thriving urban community; I often have Cal Anderson park envy with all the fun stuff they have going on. we had a blast at the WS fest and look forward to it every year. but, neighbors shooting fireworks off til the wee hours of the morning annoyed me as well. the ‘leave town for the event’ comments are funny too. seems like people should leave town to get away from fireworks, the WS fest, the blue angels, the parade. you’d miss the entire Seattle summer, and that’s the best part !!! we have window fans that keep the noise to a minimum.

my biggest rant (not actually angry here) is that the WS fest kept me from everything else that was going on at the same time. people don’t ever put on events on july 4th, but then right after, there is a flurry. ballard seafood fest, the pirates at alki, the edible garden tour, another mobile chowdown, the world cup,….. there was too freaking much going on this weekend.

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[Blend]

bebecat, don’t forget the third kind of people who analyze the thread and give stats and multiple choice questions.

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[WSB]

FWIW, there’s quite the body of comments that will add up to feedback for Summer Fest – what the Junction Association hears directly, what we all talked about after hearing from people on site at the Info Booth, what’s discussed elsewhere … even in the spokes from the WSB hub, positive comments outnumbered the not-as-positive ones in discussions on our FB page (comments on stories, not specifically set up as “rant or rave”) and after the multitude of stories we did as in-progress coverage.

(Someday in Web 3.0 there will be a bonafide way to bring it all together … so that no matter where you are discussing a certain thing, you can access what’s being said about it in other places too, without everyone having to agree on the same tag or hashtag or link or … someday.)

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[sam-c]

speaking of feedback, if we have other comments, including requests for things to come back, where can we email ?

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[Author]

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