(Image: CHS)

With six weeks to go before the big festival celebrates its second year under “new management,” Capitol Hill Block Party organizers are holding a community meeting next week to talk logistics, hear concerns and solve any problems for residents and area businesses about to get rocked by the annual celebration of music — and now arts — that draws more than 30,000 party-goers to Pike/Pine every July.

Hi everyone!
Capitol Hill Block Party will be holding a neighborhood meeting, June 19th, 4PM, upstairs at Caffe Vita (1005 East Pike Street), in preparation for the 2013 Capitol Hill Block Party, July 26-28th.

We’ll be using this time to go over all changes to this year’s festival, and to address any questions that the neighborhood may have.  If you have anything in specific you would like us to address, feel free to respond to this message.

Olivia
Capitol Hill Block Party

In recent years, the members of the Neumos family who produce Block Party have tried to go the extra mile to patch rough relationships with some residents and businesses around the festival’s gates who are negatively affected by the three-day event. The 2012 edition with the expanded arts offerings and additions like Sunday’s family day was remarkable for the seeming lack of complaint compared to past years. With increased opportunities for local businesses to have a presence inside the gates and more outreach, merchants, studios and salons along E Pike apparently have found it in their hearts to accept if not embrace the popular festival. Some local businesses told CHS last year they benefitted from increased marketing at the event as well as free promotion in the Stranger which continues to provide ticket services for the festival.

Block Party officials say this year’s logistics won’t differ much from the changes made in 2012, but party-goers and anybody needing to pass through the area will find an optimized layout with reconfigured — and expanded — beer gardens. The “original beer garden” — not a bad name for your next bar, by the way — that used to bottleneck with the main stage crowd has been widened and pushed back to end at Neumos with hopes of alleviating the congestion of past festivals. Meanwhile, a second beer garden will replace the old VIP zone next to Poquitos and across from Lost Lake.

Where will Block Party VIPs hang out now? Maybe CHS will get lucky and find out.

2013’s Block Party will be headlined by the The Flaming Lips and will include acts Girl Talk, Pickwick and Purity Ring. You have three more days to make your group’s pitch to be part of the festival.

You can see our coverage of CHBP 2012 here:  Day One | Day Two | Day Three