West Seattle Summer Fest 2011: Your guide to Day 2

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.

wondering July 9, 2011 (1:09 pm)

why they made a popular guy like casper babypants play in a major walkway knowing that it would be overcrowded with fans? I was one of them, but for those who weren’t – they looked a bit frustrated trying to get through. There was NOTHING going on down by QFC… Bad planning West Seattle Street Fair-Festival

WSB July 9, 2011 (1:23 pm)

I think the concept may have sounded better than the execution. I know they were hoping for a more personal feel than putting him on the music stage at the other end, but yes, there certainly needed to be room for more. The area IS more suited for the other stuff happening there throughout the weekend, like the veggie-dog-eating contest just concluded, and a belly-dance demo coming up … I know the feedback is taken into account every year for fine-tuning so thanks for sharing that. – TR

Neighborly July 9, 2011 (2:53 pm)

Isn’t Junction Plaza Park wired? It seems like a nice venue for a kid concert, especially when Alaska is closed to traffic.

chas redmond July 9, 2011 (7:29 pm)

This was the first year for a bunch of recommendations from last year so the evolution continues. But, definitely verbalize your suggestions for improvements – WSB is correct – both the West Seattle Junction Association and the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce are two local community- and business-friendly organizations who do – indeed – listen. However, the crowds at this year’s festival seem even more festive than in previous years – result of a long and dreary winter and two days of beautiful festival weather?