Hundreds of people attended the first-ever Ballard Urban Picnic, or BURP, at Ballard Commons Park on Saturday.
Organized by the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, the event featured live bands, many of Seattle’s most popular mobile food vendors, games for the kids and an outdoor movie. And Dutch Bike Company’s conference bike, of course.
“We really wanted something to use this great park we have,” explained the executive director of the chamber, Beth Miller. “We decided to have the mobile food vendors, much like the Mobile Chowdown, and bring them here to Ballard and surround the park.”
The vendors were the highlight of the event, including Skillet, Anita’s Crepes (above), Veraci Pizza, Cupcake Royale, Parfait and Dante’s Inferno Dogs. Maritime Pacific Brewing Company powered the beer garden, with proceeds going to the Ballard Food Bank.
Miller says Dante “called his friends” and helped bring in the vendors, and the long lines were proof they were a big hit.
Kids played with sidewalk chalk, an inflatable slide and a big bouncy room.
“I definitely think the event will happen again,” Miller said, adding that they’re hoping to bring in even more mobile food vendors next year. The weather brought a few raindrops a few times during the event, and she said they’re considering moving the timing from early May to August.
As night began to fall, attendees were treated to an outdoor movie on a big inflatable screen. It was none other than Disney’s Up, a movie that plays a close parallel to Ballard’s own legend, Edith Macefield.
Scenes from the first annual BURP
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Didn’t get a chance to try Skillet – they were so popular that the line was about 30 people deep BEFORE they opened …. and then they ran out of food around 3 PM (that’s why they left early).
Word is that there was a Level 3 sex offender arrested at the event. Apparently he wasn’t supposed to be in a park with children.
Too bad the coordinators and the police did nothing about removing the young skater who kept threatening families and kids who were anywhere near the skate bowl. Maybe next year they should just shut the skate bowl down if young skaters can’t share the space and instead threaten event goers with violence. That really ruined this even for me and a number of people.
I was bummed that Skillet left early :(
I was bummed that Skillet left early :(
hey beth miller-
do you know what would be great? if I could ride my bike to this event next year along the Burke Gilman trail.
and wouldn’t it be great if the trail didn’t just stop at the edge of ballard? I’ll bet we could raise a LOT more money for the ballard food bank next year if that trail was complete and more people could get here.
why on earth would a parent allow their kid in a skate bowl with people skating in it? its for skating, not rolling around in, running in, etc..very dangerous . oh, i see, the skaters were supposed to pack it up because a bunch of kids were around. use your heads, parents.
i realize, though, that your child is a precious snowflake.
So we hit BURP. It looked like half the hobos in Seattle were there buzzing around the beer garden like flies around a horse paddy. We especially enjoyed the drunk who fell flat on his face in front of the kiddies while he was dancing to Mötley Crüe’s ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’. That got a giggle.
A great time was had by all!
Watched a bit of UP with our elementary school-aged kids. eventually we left because loud-talking drunk cussers wouldn’t stop, despite several polite requests by a number of nearby people. Next time there’s an adults’ only environment, suggest not showing a kids movie.
I’m curious, did anyone get a thank you from one of the dozens of hobos out there yesterday, for helping to provide them with free food so they can spend their money on necessities like beer, cigarettes and dope?
Just once, I’d like to hear a thank you. Is it too much to ask?
“hey beth miller-
do you know what blah blah blah”
Who does yep remind you of?
I was thrilled to come out and support a great musician, Dan Kamas, who I happen to be lucky enough to work with! Dan’s a really nice guy and kinda modest, so you may not know that he’s had his music on an episode of “the Hills”, playing in Starbucks all over, and had a CD out in addition to being used in a Windows 7 commercial. Support local talent, cause Dan is definitely going places. Not to mention, his friendly smile and hello makes work a lot cheerier on a Monday.
Johnny,
I absolutely agree with you. But even though parents who let their kids run around in a skate pool aren’t very smart or responsible, it gives no 20 year old the right to threaten them and their children with violence without so much as a “please move your kids”. Maybe a better solution next year would be that the organizers put up signs asking parents to keep their kids away from the pool unless they’re skating.
I truly hope that coward that seemed to keep picking people to pick on who were either old, small, or obviously not willing to talk back decides to pick on someone his own size one day.
Burp was ok, I would have liked more vendors so the lines wouldn’t be so long but otherwise not bad.
Unfortunately, BURP was also a microcosm of everything that is wrong with Ballard as a whole. Something that should be awesome ruined by the drunk hobo infestation and the authorities doing nothing about it. Many of the bums I witnessed were obviously intoxicated, would it have been that hard for the police to do their jobs and arrest these people so the families could enjoy themselves without having to worry about some of the points made by other posters.
I was disappointed that I was unable to make this event but now, after reading about the drunken bum infestation that no one did anything about….I’m glad I didn’t witness it. I feel very badly for the families that wanted to enjoy an event in their neighborhood, though. WHEN will officials do SOMETHING about the transient population that just lets it all hang out whenever and wherever they feel like it…in OUR neighborhood?????
First of all, there were NO arrests at the park yesterday – Jizzball is full of s**t, and if you’re familiar with him as a poster you’ll know that he has repeatedly had his comments deleted by the moderators for inflammatory, viscious and vile statements.
Second, I was there the whole day and didn’t see ANY homeless folks harassing folks – they sat quietly on the grass throughout the day listening to the music and minding their own business. Reading these comments leaves one with the impression that the mere PRESENCE of homeless in a public park “ruins” an event.
Finally, you’d think two entirely different events had occurred based on the comments on this thread and the one the Forum about BURP – the Forum commentors thought it was a fun, well-attended and enjoyable event.
I’m reminded again why the article comments have become such an inhospitable world of nastiness and are to be avoided.
I skipped this since I don’t exactly feel comfortable supporting the chamber, but has anyone else noticed the irony of people complaining about the homeless at a fundraiser for the food bank?
Just thinkin’ Complaints about a young skateboarder. Suggestion that they should close the skatebowl next time. I’ve been reading about our young people being shot and hurt or even dead. Now we want to schoo them out of the skatebowl during events. I just wonder if it is a good/wise idea to make them unwanted at family events! Just thinkin’
Homeless? I didn’t see any homeless out there, but I did see maybe 20-30 of the usual bums buzzing and twitching around.
I’m sure they love the food bank since it let’s them spend money on more important things like booze, smokes and dope.
“just wonder if it is a good/wise idea to make them unwanted at family event”
Maybe he justed needed a hug?
Did I attend the same event??? Now granted, I wasn’t there all day, but I was there from 4-6pm. I saw some bums, but didn’t see anything nasty happen. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, etc.
I saw lots of skaters, but didn’t see anyone making threats. Maybe that was earlier. What did he look like? It IS dangerous to have little kids standing around the pool. Not so much because they could fall in, but because boards do going flying sometimes and having some little tike get clocked in the head would not be cool.
That said… the skaters I saw would often skate really close to the little kids at the top of the deep end (in a safe, controlled way) just to give the kids a thrill. That was fun to watch. I skate, and it’s really abnormal to have anyone at a pool talking much, much less making threats. It’s kind of the unwritten code. “Shut up and skate!” Lots of subtle nodding in appreciation of a good run, and the “lineup” of who’s next, but rarely any verbal outbursts. There were several elder skaters there (in their late 30s-mid 40s) and maybe they told this punk to knock it off. There IS a pecking order when it comes right down to it.
But enough about that. Let’s talk about how AWESOME the “School of Rock” kids were!!! Watching some teenagers rip through Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Iron Maiden covers??? Fantastic. They were tight too. Especially that little kid with the mullet on drums. Good stuff!
If you don’t like living in the city, you can always move to the suburbs where you can hide from people different from you.
For those of us who actually like city life — and want our kids to experience it too — BURP was a great event. A smattering of down-on-their-luck folks sitting quietly on the grass (in a PUBLIC park) and teenagers skating (in a SKATE BOWL) does not exactly ruin a great day in the park. It was a lovely event.
BURP was fun. Boy, was the beer garden unappealing, though. It looked like a cage for the Adult Humans exhibit at the zoo. I know the laws make it tough to have a beer garden that looks like an appealing place to be, but I hope they can make something work a bit better next year.
I was down there from about 3-5:30, and while part of me wishes that i didn’t have to take my family down to a fun community event and see a gaggle of smelly homeless dudes laying around in the middle of the grass, I can’t say I saw any of them do anything but mind there own business. I have to agree with what an earlier poster said, the fact that there is so much complaining and exaggeration about the “problems” they caused makes me believe that it is in fact the mere presence of these people sends alot of people over the top. Seattle is one of the cleanest, safest cities in the world, if you want a taste of what city life can be like you should try a short vacation in baltimore or LA. All this complaining makes you folks seem like the biggest bunch of lilly-white pansies ever to set foot outside of Mayberry.
I was at BURP with my family and a great time was had by all!!!
My 5 year-old niece was so excited about the face painter and just loved her mermaid tattoo. She also loved watch the skaters, who for the most part were very nice and allowed the kids to watch them skate. It seemed like they were willing to “take turns” in the bowl by allowing the kids to run around in it for a few minutes. I agree that it was a bit dangerous for the kids to get so close….and we pulled my niece over to the railing after witnessing one skate board fly through the air.
Everyone seemed to be getting along just fine until ONE foul mouthed punk started cussing out everyone around him. He even tried to follow one man down the street threatening “beat his a$$”. The most laughable part was that he took off his tank top and started waving his arms around trying to entice anyone around him to fight. I’m pretty sure even his buddies were embarrassed by his antics. The cops did show up later and I watched him cower over in the corner hoping that no one pointed him out for the d-bag that he clearly is.
Also, as for the bums……I spent half the afternoon chasing my niece around the park and didn’t see a single bum doing anything other than sitting on the hill listening to music and talking to those around them. This is a public park in the middle of the city……….bums are part of our culture. I agree that it might have been a problem if they were bugging people for money or acting belligerent…but they were just sitting on the hill enjoying the music!
I had a great time and plan on attending next year. Thanks for planning a fun community event!
“If you don’t like living in the city, you can always move to the suburbs where you can hide from people different from you.”
Queen Anne is “in the city”, they’re not over run by bums. A few quant, picturesque hobos maybe, but not the army we have.
BTW Ballard isn’t a city. It’s a suburb to a mid sized town. If you think it’s a city you need to get out more.
Anyone else notice the huge tags in the bowl on Sunday including the giant ejaculating c*ck?
How family friendly!
BURP was a really fun event. Local “homeless” were not bothering anyone.
So sad that the WSLCB forces beer gardens to have high fencing. I am sure that the organizers would have rather not been caged in while working.
Nice to see people having such a good time and enjoying our park
bark more, i hope you’re not insinuating that the tagging in the bowl was the result of skaters. as a long-time boarder, let me tell you that sort of thing is not tolerated in the community, and if a rogue skater did deface the bowl, especially with something blatantly offensive, he would be “culled” from the flock. skaters have learned a long time ago not to sh*t where they eat.