Summer's heat has finally settled over Seattle, and with it comes the season of street fairs and block parties, just in time to entice people out of their hot and stuffy homes. From Capitol Hill to Wallingford, neighborhood sponsored festivities in the Emerald City have a tradition of pulling out all the entertainment stops. They often attract internationally known music acts, hundreds of regional vendors and jam the streets with hordes of people.
As a result, some, such as the Capitol Hill Block Party, have become more of a regional event than local get together. However, bigger does not mean better, and the residents, businesses and admirers of Georgetown proved the old maxim true with the inaugural Georgetown Street Carnival on Saturday, July 22.
"We wanted people to know that Georgetown actually has kids that live down there. It's a bunch of families." said event organizer and primary financial backer Scott Hornell, who asserted that the weekday vibe of his neighborhood is markedly different from the nightlife-driven weekend atmosphere often associated with the historic area.
Hornell, owner of Georgetown's popular 9-Pound Hammer tavern, found the inspiration to sponsor an event in his neighborhood after witnessing the success of the June 3 Georgetown Music Festival organized by a pair of promoters hip to the neighborhood despite not living or working there. In addition to hoping to host an entertaining afternoon for area residents, Hornell also wanted to do something that boosted the visibility of the newly formed Georgetown Merchants Association. After bouncing his initial idea off fellow Georgetown residents Chad McMurray, Sarah Prochnau and Marq Dean, Hornell realized a stripped-down approach would not only fit his pocket book but also put a unique spin on the event.
The group also wanted to distinguish their event from the music festival, which drove Hornell and crew to tap into a traditional style of American celebration: the summer carnival.
"We wanted it to be like a junior high school carnival," noted Hornell. "We really tried to keep it as cheap as possible, and it turned out to be really fun."
It's fitting that the oldest, continually settled neighborhood in Seattle has revived this low-tech, family friendly tradition in a city known for its rock festivals.
"We wanted to avoid bands because of the noise," said Hornell, who planned the event with families very much in mind. "Low-tech was fun, and it kept the cost low."
The what's-old-is-new-again approach worked, especially when it found footing in the do-it-yourself environment that has come to define Georgetown's spirit in the past five years. Prochnau took charge of the entertainment and booked a popular double-dutch jump rope team, served as the bingo caller and even brought her massive rottweiler-mix to be the primary feature of a small petting zoo, until the dog was relieved by a pair of neighborhood goats, Pixie and Trixie.
Dean, a bar tender at the venerable Jules Mayes Saloon, headed up the booth construction efforts for the midway laid out along South Vale Street, which was closed down to automobile traffic. A staff of 25 volunteers took rotating shifts to run the snow-cone stand, cakewalk, dart toss, milk-bottle toss, and dunk tank, one of the few items they rented. Hornell said the dunk tank's popularity came from being purposefully staffed with familiar neighborhood faces, including bartenders, baristas and business owners, including him.
The carnival was organized in a little more than a month's time.
"We were kind of right at the wire," said McMurray, owner of Christoff Gallery and the newly opened Khaos Recording Studios in Georgetown. He took charge of getting the proper city permits, insurance and portable toilets lined up for the event.
For prizes, Prochnau, also of Jules Mayes, hit up her old boss at Ballard's legendary knick-knack shop Archie McPhee's for prizes.
"My big fear was that we wouldn't have enough prizes," said Hornell, who praised Archie McPhee's for their generous donations of funky and fun objects. "People were just thrilled with what they got, adults and kids."
Hornell estimated that several hundred people were gathered along South Vale Street. The crowd peaked during the day's most popular event, the spectacularly nutty and mildly dangerous power tool races.
"There was a toaster that had rockets on it," laughed Hornell. "That was really interesting. It was really fast too."
The South End industrial art studio called The Hazard Factory (www.hazardfactory.org) organized the race and hosted a shakedown event the weekend before to make sure the machines were as trouble free as possible. Racing tools ranged from simplistic looking wheel, sheet metal and electrical engine configurations the size of a football to flamboyant works of art involving engines encased in sculpted dogs and other animals, including one boasting a converted rocking horse for its chassis.
"We're kind of dorky," noted Hornell when comparing the carnival to Seattle's other, more established neighborhood festivals. "It just turned into a really fun little street party."
Erik Hansen may be reached via editor@sdistrictjournal.com.[[In-content Ad]]
