Get ready for Ballard’s fishiest festival: this weekend, July 7-9, is SeafoodFest, set to fill central Ballard with salmon barbecues, local music, arts and crafts and more.
The festival will kick off on Friday, July 7 at 5pm, with live music, a beer garden, and food trucks. Music starts with a DJ at 6pm, #All4Doras at 7pm, and Nite Wave at 7:45pm.
On Saturday, July 8, from 11am to 5pm, there will be a game area set up, including corn hole and ladder ball, a trampoline, a “doggy splash town pool”, giant dice, giant Jenga, giant dominoes, an AstroTurf lounge and a rock climbing wall.
There will also be a skateboarding event and competition on Saturday, called Festi-Bowl at the Ballard Commons Park, hosted by Skate Like a Girl. There will be clinics and lessons provided by Skate Like a Girl, a sidewalk slalom event, a 12-and-under bowl jam, a ladies division contest and an open contest.
Saturday’s music starts at noon. The line-up includes: The Pro and the Con, Honcho Poncho, Bread & Butter, Hobosexual, Dude York, La Luz, and Strand of Oaks.
On Sunday, July 9, the big event is the lutefisk eating contest, starting at 3:30pm at the intersection of NW Market St and 22nd Ave NW. If you want to compete, get there early; there are only 10 spots available, on a first-come, first-serve basis. It costs $10 to enter, and every contestant will receive a commemorative t-shirt. Participants will be served with 2lbs of lutefisk in four heats of competitions – each heat requires consumption of 1/2 pound of lutefisk. Only the fastest will move on to compete in the final round. The winner will take home $300, second place gets $150, and $50 will go to third place.
Sunday’s music will start with a free zumba class at 11am, put on by the Ballard Health Club. Live music follows with School of Rock, Evening Bell, The Warren G. Hardings, Vaudeville Etiquette, The Lil Smokies, and The Dip.
There will be kid’s activities all weekend on the “Kid’s Deck“, with face-painting, art projects, magicians and more.
The organizers are still taking volunteers; to sign up, click here. They still need help in the beer garden, crab shack, info booth, salmon barbecue, set-up and tear-down and more. All volunteers get a free salmon dinner for their efforts, plus a beverage token.
