Art in the Garden
Saturday, August 10, was the 13th annual Art in the Garden festival, held in the Ballard P-Patch at 85th St. and 25th Ave. It’s a nice little neighborhood festival, very small compared to other summer fairs. But its location makes it perfect for North Beach Park outreach, because it’s right around the corner from the park. Last year and this year, “Friends of North Beach Park” tabled at the event, with the support of Green Seattle Partnership (the all-important shade canopy).
This year the weather was perfect. The day started out cool, and there was a long period where it was sometimes warm/sometimes cool, but it never got too hot. And as the day drew on, the skies cleared and it became a lovely summer afternoon.
One thing we like about Art in the Garden is meeting neighbors of the park: People who remember playing in there as children. People who didn’t let their children play in there. People who walk their dogs through the park, or jog through the park. It makes us realize how special North Beach Park is, that such a little, apparently forgotten park, has such deep memories for long-term residents. It doesn’t hurt that if people have noticed the restoration, they’re often very thankful and appreciative! It’s also a great chance for those of us who work in the park to run into each other (as it were) and chat for a few minutes in relatively clean/dry clothes.
This was our table display. We gave away most of the flyers in the very front, which promote the 4th Saturday and EarthCorps work parties. We also gave away a few flyers for Green Seattle Day (November 2nd - save the date!), and “The Truth About English Ivy” flyer. Last but not least, we got about nine or ten signatures on the email mailing list.
We also had a trifold display that I’ve been bringing around to events since last year’s Art in the Garden. No one will ever accuse us of embezzling restoration funds for inappropriately-lavish displays. But all the information on it is up to the minute, and it shows how much work we’ve done in the two and half years we’ve been working in the park.
But Art in the Garden is also about craft vendors. This is the row of vendors that faced 25th Ave. There was another group in the parking lot, near the food trucks.
And speaking of which…
In previous years, the festival has sold brats from their beer garden. But that meant there was no place for families to sit and eat together. So this year, they had a couple food trucks come in. The Seattle Biscuit Company had great, large, soft biscuits. We had the breakfasty one, which came with a fried egg, Beecher’s flagship cheese, and some great bacon. Splitting one was perfect, one each would have been too much! The other food truck was Curb Jumper Street Eats, which serves gourmet sliders. We had the 3 slider sampler, and REALLY liked the salmon. That’s the food we’d go back for.
But let’s not forget the art, the garden, or the people!
All in all: a pleasant afternoon, spreading the word about North Beach Park. There is a full set of pictures on Flickr.
Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.