The 6th Annual West Seattle Bee Festival was on Saturday, May 19th, 2018!
Thanks to those of you who joined us!
Following are some highlights – in photos and words, as well as links to each of the vendors and community resource organizations who participated. Enjoy!
The first event of the day was the Honey Run, a free, informal, fun run in High Point Commons Park.
Parade preparations! Face painters and balloon artists arrived early to decorate participants for the bee-themed Costume Parade. Everyone was welcome to join the parade – pets too – and the Big Bee led the way for the second year!
Inside the Bee Garden... Bee Garden creator and beekeeper, Lauren Englund gave an informative Bee Hive demo. She had help from other PSBA beekeepers – Collette, who joined her inside the hive; and Krista Connor, who narrated and explained to the fascinated audience outside what was taking place and why. Puget Sound Beekeepers hosted an Open House in the Bee Garden. They brought several varieties of local honey to taste or to buy. It was long gone before the festival ended.
Woodland Park Zoo was inside Neighborhood House with their Up CLOSE program, "Pollinators: Little Animals, Big Job." They brought some of their “animal ambassadors” including Gamma, a python. They also hosted a "Pollinator Party" for kids at our Vendor Fair.
Pop-Up Sewing, back for its second year, showed attendees how to sew, repair and repurpose textiles (to keep them out of landfills). Materials and tools were provided, free! West Seattle Bee Festival iron-on patches proved to be a very popular addition!
Our Vendor Fair was our biggest yet! We brought together organizations focused on environmental sustainability, businesses with a focus on bees, and community groups who provide resources to our local community. There were many highlights!
Following are links to all of our Vendor Fair participants:
We also enjoyed food and music from around the world! DJ Arlo and DJ Nate Prudhon brought world music to this year's festival. In the afternoon, we enjoyed live music by Bell and the Bees, a wonderful jazz band from Garfield High School; as well as a performance by the duo Mississippi Jones, which ended the day.
You can find coverage of this year's festival from the West Seattle Blog here. The photos above were contributed by Patrick Sand from the West Seattle Blog, Kerry Lusignan, and Karen Berge. If you have additional photos to share, please get in touch!
Our thanks to this year's volunteers, as well as those who supported the West Seattle Bee Festival in other ways: the West Seattle Blog and VIEWS.
Parade preparations! Face painters and balloon artists arrived early to decorate participants for the bee-themed Costume Parade. Everyone was welcome to join the parade – pets too – and the Big Bee led the way for the second year!
Inside the Bee Garden... Bee Garden creator and beekeeper, Lauren Englund gave an informative Bee Hive demo. She had help from other PSBA beekeepers – Collette, who joined her inside the hive; and Krista Connor, who narrated and explained to the fascinated audience outside what was taking place and why. Puget Sound Beekeepers hosted an Open House in the Bee Garden. They brought several varieties of local honey to taste or to buy. It was long gone before the festival ended.
Woodland Park Zoo was inside Neighborhood House with their Up CLOSE program, "Pollinators: Little Animals, Big Job." They brought some of their “animal ambassadors” including Gamma, a python. They also hosted a "Pollinator Party" for kids at our Vendor Fair.
Pop-Up Sewing, back for its second year, showed attendees how to sew, repair and repurpose textiles (to keep them out of landfills). Materials and tools were provided, free! West Seattle Bee Festival iron-on patches proved to be a very popular addition!
Our Vendor Fair was our biggest yet! We brought together organizations focused on environmental sustainability, businesses with a focus on bees, and community groups who provide resources to our local community. There were many highlights!
- Tilth Alliance brought back their popular worm bin, info about their Master Composter Sustainability Steward and Enviroscapes programs, and the Garden Hotline.
- We had other gardening experts offering advice and selling plants.
- Camp Long was back with science activities.
- ROAR hosted a popular activity: bicycle-powered smoothies!
- Neighborhood House staff and local artist Vaughn Bell hosted art activities.
- Plants departed almost as soon as they arrived at this year’s Plant Swap.
- This year’s Vendor Fair had a strong local and informational focus. Member organizations from the High Point Resource Coalition were there, as well as other local West Seattle groups.
- Officers Clayton Powell and Erin Diaz from the SW Police Precinct offered tours of their mobile precinct unit.
- Seattle Fire Department brought their ladder truck and also hosted a booth about fire safety at the Vendor Fair!
Following are links to all of our Vendor Fair participants:
- Bedhead Fiber & the Pollinator Project – Selling Wildflower Seeds, Dye Seeds, naturally dyed yarn and fiber.
- Bridge Park retirement community
- Camp Long – Hosting science activities for kids
- Community P-Patch Program – Providing info about the High Point Community Garden and Department of Neighborhoods programs
- Delridge Grocery Co-op
- Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA) – which includes Nature Consortium and Youngstown Arts
- High Point Community Center – Information about free Soccer Camp and other summer programs
- High Point Open Spaces Association, Events Committee – Information about High Point OSA and Night Out Block Party
- Hiveboxx – Environmentally friendly moving solutions – with some proceeds donated to help bees
- Magpie Mouse Studios – Handmade Art Jewelry including bee and nature designs
- Moms Demand Action - BeSMART program – Information about gun safety
- Nature Stewards/Weed Warriors – Selling native plants
- Neighborcare Health - High Point Clinic
- Neighborcare Health – WIC program information
- Neighborhood House - High Point: Family Center
- Neighborhood House - High Point: STUDIO – STEM afterschool program
- Neighborhood House - High Point: Career Connect employment program
- Oasis Edible Naturescapes – Providing education about permaculture
- Postcards from the Creek with artist Vaughn Bell - Interactive art project about Longfellow Creek
- Puget Sound Beekeepers Association
- ROAR (Roots of All Roads) – Providing free “bicycle-powered smoothies”
- Seattle Department of Transportation
- Seattle Fire Department
- Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) – JobLink program
- Seattle Police Department, SW Precinct
- Seattle Public Library – High Point Branch
- Tilth Alliance – Garden Hotline program
- Tilth Alliance – Enviroscapes program
- Tilth Alliance – Master Composter Sustainability Steward program
- Weed Warriors/Nature Stewards program
- West Seattle Be Prepared – Emergency preparedness information and information about the West Seattle emergency communication hubs
- West Seattle Block Watch Captain's Network
- West Seattle Blog
- West Seattle Food Bank
- West Seattle Garden Tour – Selling tickets for this year’s tour on Sunday, June 24th!
- West Seattle Timebank
- Woodland Park Zoo – Hosting educational activities for kids, with a focus on pollinators
- YouthCare – Safe Place program - Providing solutions to help homeless youth
We also enjoyed food and music from around the world! DJ Arlo and DJ Nate Prudhon brought world music to this year's festival. In the afternoon, we enjoyed live music by Bell and the Bees, a wonderful jazz band from Garfield High School; as well as a performance by the duo Mississippi Jones, which ended the day.
You can find coverage of this year's festival from the West Seattle Blog here. The photos above were contributed by Patrick Sand from the West Seattle Blog, Kerry Lusignan, and Karen Berge. If you have additional photos to share, please get in touch!
Our thanks to this year's volunteers, as well as those who supported the West Seattle Bee Festival in other ways: the West Seattle Blog and VIEWS.
A few additional notes...
- Do you want to volunteer or "bee" part of the next festival? If so, please email us, or get in touch: 206 240-5561.
- Help us share the buzz about the Bee Festival and the Bee Garden! Tell your friends, family and neighbors to BEE here in mid-May 2019 for our 7th festival!
- Please like us on social media! Follow West Seattle Bee Garden on Facebook and on Twitter, @westseattlebee. Follow the West Seattle Bee Festival on Twitter, @WS_BeeFestival.
- Curious about previous festivals? Visit the more... section of our site for photos and highlights from each! Also, don’t miss The Buzz on Bees by Jeannette Magsino, which showcases our 2017 festival.
- Need a map to find the Bee Garden? See below!
