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Musicians, poets, and a giant chicken: 2012’s first Beacon Rocks!

Ichi Bichi performing at last year’s Beacon Rocks! Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

The schedule has been announced for the first Beacon Rocks! event of 2012 on next Sunday, June 24 from 1-5 p.m. at the Roberto Maestas Festival Street next to Beacon Hill Station. The event’s theme is “Transportation Exploration,” so along with four local bands and four poets, the afternoon will include a “slow bike race,” pedestrian info and walking maps, a visit from Sound Transit with information about the Link light rail system, and a transportation-themed haiku-writing contest with prizes in multiple age categories. We hear there will also be a visit from a giant chicken, to tell us why he crossed the road.

Food vendors will be at the site including a taco truck, a crepe truck, and Full Tilt Ice Cream. There will also be info tables on site for several local groups.

Here’s the entertainment schedule:

  • 1:00: Random Axe (folk/jazz duo Jack LeNoir and Betty Jean Williamson)
  • 1:35: Kelli Russell Agodon (poetry)
  • 1:50: Allen Braden (poetry)
  • 2:00: Blue 55 (old-school blues)
  • 2:45: Kathleen Flenniken, Washington State Poet Laureate
  • 3:00: Audio Couture (improvisational jazz/hip hop duo)
  • 3:45: David Horowitz (poetry, then Haiku Contest winner selection by applause)
  • 4:00: Nigel Mustafa (reggae/rock band)

For more information about this edition of Beacon Rocks!, see the event’s website. For general information about the entire event series, see the main Beacon Rocks! website.

Volunteers needed for Beacon Rocks!

Volunteers are needed to help put on the Beacon Rocks! summer music series. Help is needed for these roles (at all three events unless noted):

  • “Set up” shift, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.: unloading tables and chairs, setting up canopies, creating an information booth, helping folks cross at the crosswalk, helping performers get set up, setting out garbage/recycling cans, putting up signage, supporting youth volunteers and vendor set up.
  • Sound system technician, June 24 and July 29, 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Poetry facilitator, June 24
  • Event emcee, August 26, 11:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • “Running the show” shift, 12 noon – 3 p.m.: vendor support, information booth, assisting performers’ set up, crosswalk assistance, support of youth volunteers
  • “Break down” shift, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.: rounding up and putting away tables, chairs, canopies, signage, garbage/recycling.

Volunteers will get a free t-shirt. To volunteer or for more info, call or email ROCKiT Community Arts Volunteer Coordinator Liz Walsh-Boyd at lizzie583@msn.com or 206-324-6351.

The events’ themes have been decided. They are:

  • Sunday, June 24: “Transportation” theme. Light rail representatives and possibly Metro transit will be there
  • Sunday, July 2 “Save the (Weather-vane) Whale” theme. Water fun and a project to restore the “fallen” whale to the top of the Garden House
  • Sunday, August 26 “Barter Your Way” theme. An assortment of services/products and people who “trade” in these items.

Each event will also have a poetry activity.

These folks volunteered their time and labor to make the first Beacon Rocks! series happen in 2010. Photo by Julia Cheng in the Beacon Hill Blog photo pool.

Beacon Rocks! needs performers for 2012

Ichi Bichi performed at Beacon Rocks! last summer. Photo by Wendi Dunlap.

The Beacon Rocks! summer music series will be back for its third season on Roberto Maestas Festival Street this summer, and performers are needed. This year’s family-friendly events will be June 24, July 29, and August 26, from 1-5 p.m.

Though the festival “Rocks!”, all styles of music and performance are welcome. Previous performers in the series have brought us trip-hop, blues, jazz, marimba, folk, and various kinds of rock, along with belly dancing, martial arts, modern dance, and more.

Performers may audition by sending links to music samples or descriptions of their performances to beaconrocks@gmail.com.

Beacon Rocks! is presented by ROCKiT Community Arts, a non-profit organization dedicated to making music and art available to everyone.

Yesterday at Beacon Rocks!

The last Beacon Rocks! of 2011 was yesterday at the newly dedicated Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Here are some images of the sunny Sunday event:

This tiny ukelele player stole the show as part of the Seattle Fandango Project. Photo by Wendi.
Mayor Mike McGinn spoke during the dedication of Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Photo by Wendi.
El Centro representatives with a display at Beacon Rocks! Photo by Wendi.
Baby Sophie enjoys sidewalk chalk. Photo by Melissa Jonas.
Continue reading Yesterday at Beacon Rocks!

BBQ, lawn bowling, and blues come to Beacon Hill this weekend

This is a busy weekend on and around Beacon Hill, with events including music, BBQ, lawn bowling, and more taking place throughout the next few days.

Today (August 26), the US National Lawn Bowling Championships continue at Jefferson Park through August 28. Here’s the schedule of events. All games are open to the public.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m., the Beacon Blues and BBQ starts at the Garden House, 2336 15th Ave. S. On the menu are Quarter House BBQ glazed chicken, salads, and dinner rolls, catered by Gourmet Your Way. The meal is followed at 7:30 pm by an acoustic concert featuring the Smokin’ J’s. The concert is $10 (free for members of ROCKiT space and kids under 12), and the price for dinner and the concert together is $22.

Saturday, August 27, at 9 a.m. is the Second Annual Beacon Avenue Health Walk, a benefit for Japan earthquake relief. The walk will begin at Jun Hong Kung Fu (4878 Beacon Ave. S.), and then take the Beacon Avenue walking path south to Van Asselt Community Center (2820 S. Myrtle St.) for a water stop, and back to Jun Hong Kung Fu. The total distance is approximately three miles, and the event should finish at noon. Registration for the event closed on August 25.

Just north of the Hill, on Saturday night, is the Chinatown-International District Night Market. The Market will include local vendors of arts and crafts, as well as international cuisine. Performances will include Chinese lion and dragon dances, Brazilian and traditional martial arts, live painting demonstrations, and a free outdoor showing of the new Karate Kid movie at 8:45 p.m.

On Sunday, August 28 from 1-6 p.m., the final Beacon Rocks! music event of 2011 comes to Roberto Maestas Festival Street (S. Lander St., just north of Beacon Hill Station). Along with the usual musical performances, this event will include a ceremony to rename Lander Festival Street as Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, representatives from El Centro de la Raza, and other dignitaries will attend, and new memorial street signs will be unveiled during the ceremony. The event will also feature bubbles for the kids and a beach ball volley contest with prizes.

ROCKiT space will be hosting a clothing exchange at Beacon Rocks! to help neighbors of all ages and sizes prepare for the new school year, so bring new or gently used clothing to trade. Leftovers will be donated to Wellspring Family Services. Everyone and all sizes are welcome.

Clothing exchange at Beacon Rocks! this Sunday

Need to get ready for the “back to school” season? There will be a clothing exchange during Sunday’s Beacon Rocks! event to help neighbors of all ages and sizes prepare for the new school year.

To participate, bring gently-used clothing to Beacon Rocks! this Sunday, August 28. Sort your contributions by size and gender on the tables provided, then take anything you can use, free. Leftovers will be donated to Wellspring Family Services. Everyone and all sizes are welcome.

Beacon Rocks! will be at Lander Festival Street (soon to be Roberto Maestas Festival Street), just north of Beacon Hill Station, from 1-6 p.m. on Sunday.

Save the dates: Beacon Blues & BBQ 8/26, Beacon Rocks 8/28

(Post corrected on 8/20 to include correct admission info for the BBQ. — ed.)

The last weekend in August will be a musical one on Beacon Hill!

First, on Friday, August 26, the Beacon Blues & BBQ will bring blues music by the Smokin’ J’s to the Garden House, along with BBQ, beer, and wine available for sale. The show is at 7:30 p.m., and general admission is $10. ROCKiT space members and kids under 12 get in free. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m., and is $12 (including a beverage). Dinner and the show together are $22. Guests can come for either or both. The Garden House is located at 2336 15th Ave. S.

The band Jumbo performed at the last Beacon Rocks! Photo by Wendi.
Then on Sunday, August 28, the final Beacon Rocks! music event of 2011 comes to Roberto Maestas Festival Street (S. Lander St., just north of Beacon Hill Station) from 1-5 p.m. Along with the usual great musical performances, this event will include the ceremony to rename Lander Festival Street as Roberto Maestas Festival Street. Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, representatives from El Centro de la Raza, and other dignitaries will attend, and new memorial street signs will be unveiled during the ceremony. The event will also feature bubbles for the kids and a beach ball volley contest with prizes.

ROCKiT space will be hosting a clothing drive, so bring new or gently used clothing to donate to Wellspring Family Services.

Here’s the schedule of performers (see the website for further information on each act):

  • 1:00 Deception Pass
  • 1:30 Skin Deep Belly Dance
  • 1:45 Volcano Diary
  • 2:30 Ala Carte
  • 3:00 Roberto Maestas Festival Street dedication
    • Seattle Fandango Project
    • Mariachi Seattle Azteca
  • 4:00 Beaconettes
  • 4:45 Splinter Dance
  • 5:00 Unite One and TraQEssentials

Beacon Rocks! brings beach to Beacon Sunday

Blue sky appeared for the last installment of Beacon Rocks. Will it appear again on Sunday? Photo by Wendi.
The Beacon Rocks! concert series returns on Sunday, July 31 from 1-5 p.m., along with an interactive art installation that will “bring the beach” to Roberto Maestas Festival Street.

Performance schedule:

Other activities promised from 1-5 p.m. include “ducky kid fun,” a beer garden at the nearby Station coffee shop, food vendors, the interactive art installation, and a viewing of Patrick Gofre and Marga Houtman’s Duckumentary. At 5 p.m. there will also be drawings for prizes.

As always, the event is at Roberto Maestas (Lander) Festival Street, adjacent to Beacon Hill Station.