Carnival rides, game booths, and food stalls are set to take over the Holy Rosary School campus along 42nd SW between SW Genesee and SW Dakota this Friday and Saturday, as WestFest returns to West Seattle. The festival runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, with entertainment, games, rides, and food filling the school grounds, according to West Seattle Blog.
WestFest appears in a 2010 slideshow from Westside Seattle. Holy Rosary itself is a Catholic STEM+ school serving preschool through 8th grade that has operated in West Seattle for more than a century, per the Private School Review profile of the campus.
Rides and a Cashless Carnival Economy
Attendees looking to hop on the midway rides can grab pre-sale wristbands for $40 for a single day, either Friday or Saturday, or $75 for both days, according to Holy Rosary School's own event page. Day-of wristband prices run higher, at $45 per single day and $80 for both days.
Beyond the rides, the entire festival runs on a cashless system for games and food. Visitors purchase ticket punch cards in $20 increments either ahead of time or upon arrival, a policy the school says streamlines transactions across every food stall and game booth on campus.
Families with younger kids get their own dedicated window, too: Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon is set aside as “Toddler Time,” when inflatable rides open specifically for children under five, letting them enjoy obstacle courses without competing with older festivalgoers.
A Pancake Kickoff and a Major Fundraiser
Festival week actually got underway Sunday with an all-you-can-eat Pancake Breakfast, built around a traditional school family recipe and topped with fruit from local business Alki Coffee Company. That breakfast served as the traditional prelude to the main weekend carnival.
The financial stakes behind the games and rides are significant. WestFest is one of Holy Rosary School's largest annual fundraising operations, bringing in roughly $100,000 in gross earnings, with net proceeds split between the school and its parish.
That fundraising haul doesn't happen without an enormous volunteer push. The festival, in other words, runs almost entirely on parish and school volunteer labor rather than paid staff.
A Busy Weekend Across the Peninsula
WestFest isn't the only draw in the neighborhood this weekend. The West Seattle Junction business district is also associated with a Fall Wine Walk, according to Seattle Times Events.
Across town, the same September 18-19 weekend also brings Wallingford's own parish school event. St. Benedict School is holding its Great Wallingford Bratwurst Festival on the identical dates, offering similar hours, live music, and family attractions, as detailed by Seattle's Child. The events described here include fall parish festivals in Seattle in September.
The overlapping events give West Seattle residents a packed weekend of options, from carnival rides and pancakes on the Holy Rosary campus to wine tastings just blocks away in the Junction. The festival's return also brings a weekend event back to the school.
