Submitted by Olympia Downtown Alliance
The Olympia Downtown Alliance is powering a street festival in historic Downtown Olympia that includes live music and performances, activities for kids and families, interactive art installations from local artists, local community groups, and a Biergarten featuring craft beer from 3 Magnets Brewing Co. and Well 80 Brewhouse. LoveOly Summer Fest 2021, presented by the City of Olympia, will take place every Saturday now through August 28, from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Entertainment Line Up – Saturday, August 21
The Olympia Film Society (OFS) has partnered with the Downtown Alliance to produce the headline acts for the festival on the Main Stage in the Entertainment Area, sponsored by Olympia Federal Savings. Cedar Teeth will headline the Main Stage on Saturday, August 21, while Golden Ruins will provide support. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Hillstomp is unable to join Summer Fest this weekend.
Cedar Teeth didn’t plan to start a band around the campfires that lit up their youths in the Cascade foothills of Oregon. But homegrown tunes turned into intricate songwriting, and friendships became a creative force, whether in the studio or performing at festivals and clubs throughout the Pacific Northwest. They have joined bands like Shook Twins, Fruition, and Hot Buttered Rum. The genre-bending roots troupe built their reputation on stage, exploring the margins between rock & roll, folk and bluegrass while leaning into backwood harmonies and off-kilter melodies to support tales of love and war and the moments in between.
While their range of sonic interests and influences defy easy classification, it is difficult not to hear Levon Helm, Rick Danko and company, The Band, hollering from the grave. Indeed, imagery reflecting organic flesh and bone, mingling with gnarled old-growth roots music, is what this band is all about. Call them whatever you like: they are harmonizers and collaborators, and Cedar Teeth won’t let the fire go out.
As summer turned to fall, AJ DeLange, formerly of the Seattle psych-rock institution, The Knast, decided to shift course. It was a long time coming, but it came on fast when DeLange holed up with singer/songwriter/keys player Megan Gold (of the L.A. electronic punk outfit Dreamers & We Are The World) in Gold’s barn in Olympia, WA. The tunes came out as what they like to call ‘Cosmic Bar Food,’ inspired by their mutual interest in writing songs that sound like familiar classics (think Jefferson Airplane/Stones/Dead). Fortunately, Tascar The Wise, the rippin’ bassist from The Knast, came along for the ride. New heads include Carl Marck on lead guitar & Jeremy Oehlenschlager, holding down the beat. On through the winter, the jams in the barn grew into a rich collection of earthy soulful rock n’ rock that stretches to the stars & back for vibes that make you wanna meditate on the cosmos and keep you rockin’ out on the ground. The phoenix rose from the ashes, and Golden Ruins was born.
In addition to Main Stage acts, August 21 is full of other activities to choose from!
12 p.m. – 3 p.m. The Bridge Beat Battle takes place on the Main Stage.
3:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.: SnK, acoustic duo. Location: 5th and Washington.
4 p.m. Summer Fest welcomes Golden Ruins to the Main Stage. Location: On the Main Stage in front of the Capitol Theater, 206 East 5th.
4:45 p.m. Almost Precarious, Partner Acrobatics. Location: 5th and Washington.
5 p.m. Summer Fest welcomes Cedar Teeth to the Main Stage. On the Main Stage in front of the Capitol Theater, 206 East 5th.
12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Activity Area: Activities for kids from the Hands On Children’s Museum, including rumble bots, Three Little Pigs Engineering and fortboards. Face Painting by Lauren and Sofi, a juggling workshop and Mr. Twister, a balloon artist. Parents, stop by and get a complimentary chair massage. Location: On 5th between Capital and Washington.
“Gathering of the Species” by Eli Sterling. This week’s public art display will feature several marquee pieces of the Procession of the Species, such as the Sun, the Lion, the Rhinoceros and the Zebra. Location: 5th and Washington.
Community Group: Puget Sound Estuarium: Enjoy EnviroScape, a three-dimensional model of a watershed from noon to three. The EnviroScape allows our educators to inform the public about the ecology of our watersheds, human impacts on watershed health and ways to reduce our footprint and encourage stewardship and protection of our watersheds here in the South Sound.
From 3 pm until 6 pm, enjoy the mobile touch tank. The Puget Sound Estuarium touch tank provides an opportunity to get up close and personal with sea stars, snails, and other invertebrates from the Sound. Each animal in the tank – along with the preserved specimens the
Estuarium brings along – showcases some of the weird and wild traits that help animals survive in the ever-changing environment of our local waters. Location: On Washington Street between 4th and 5th.
Biergarten Area: Biergarten featuring beer from Three Magnets Brewing Co. and Well 80 Brewhouse. Location: On Washington Street between 5th and Legion.
Who: Powered by the Olympia Downtown Alliance, produced by the Olympia Film Society and Hands on Children’s Museum, The event is presented by the City of Olympia, Activity Area sponsor Snowshoe, and Entertainment Area sponsor is Olympia Federal Savings.
What: LoveOly Summer Fest 2021
When: Saturday, August 21, 2021, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Olympia Federal Savings Entertainment Area, Capitol Theater outdoor stage, Downtown Olympia, 5th Avenue and Washington Street
Cost: This is a free event, thanks to the support of our sponsors!
