information from VieWS

Last year’s event almost didn’t happen. The annual one-day celebration in the past had been coordinated by the North Delridge Neighborhood Council but they had to decline due to some volunteer burnout and transitions. Having successfully conducted the Gathering of Neighbors event for several years, VieWS decided to take coordination of Delridge Day on… although with only a handful of organizers — all still neighborhood volunteers! — VieWS expected to scale down the event. No skate competition was held but we were able to offer free skating lessons to neighbors. The kid’s activities were still there but unfortunately there were no bouncy houses!

VieWS recently completed an online history of the event, and discovered that a miscounting had occurred – and this year will mark the 10th anniversary of the Delridge Day event. It began on June 24, 2006 with a picnic, a few booths, and a musical performance by Laura Love at the Dragonfly Pavilion.

This year’s event is shaping up to be an even bigger and better event, with the return of many of the groups, local businesses and community organizations showcasing the services they offer to our Delridge community and greater West Seattle. Our goal is to increase attendance to prior levels of over 2,500 attendees!

The 2015 Delridge Day Festival is planned for Saturday, August 8th from 11AM-3PM at the Delridge Community Center and Park. This year’s festival will feature a large vendor area, highlighting some of the best local businesses in the area, food trucks where you can grab a bite to eat, kid- and family-friendly picnic games, bouncy house, skating competition and much more! Again this year, we’ll have our music stage with plenty of local live music and entertainment.

With the continuing support of The Seattle Police Foundation, the Southwest Precinct Picnic will be back for the third consecutive year. The Seattle Police Foundation plans to make many officers and units available. Last year, they brought cars, a canine police officer, their mounted patrol (that happen to be based right here in our Delridge neighborhood), a Bomb Squad robot that was offering candy, and free ice cream and popcorn. We will have a visit by SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole for the second year in a row.

Alki Bike & Board is back hosting another truly awesome and entertaining competition at the Skate Park! You can expect great prizes and vendor booths specifically targeted at bike and board enthusiasts.

The VieWS planning committee is continuing to secure sponsors and vendors to make this year’s event the best ever. VieWS is encouraging local businesses, community groups and organizations to submit an application to be a part of our local event! The sponsorship and vendor fees not only support the festival but also allow us to give back to the community, as VieWS intends to donate a percentage of all fees to the ARC (Associated Recreational Council), which will provide money to fund scholarships for Community Center classes at the Delridge Community Center.