By Juliet Brewster

The Edmonds Rotary Waterfront Festival is here to kick off summer once and for all! From Friday evening through the weekend, find your way down to the waterfront for rides, carnival games, elephant ears, and endless live music. The Beatniks headline Friday night with a two-hour set of classic rock covers, from the Beatles’ early hits to AC/DC.

On Saturday night, Magic Bus is coming to Edmonds all the way from 1969. Complete with bell-bottoms, platforms, paisley, and “two groovy birds in cages,” these long-haired musicians might just be able to play louder than their outfits. There is plenty more to see and hear all weekend—and we may even get some sun! Admission is free for kids 12 and under, $3 for everyone else.

Kathleen Johnson is Gallery North’s featured artist for June. The show is titled “Natural Connections,” focusing on natural subject matter, especially crows. Johnson has always had a special affection for crows and other animals, and it comes through in her colorful paintings. The artist reception will be held Sunday, June 9 from 1-4 p.m. and Johnson will also be present at the gallery during the Third Thursday Art Walk on the 20th.

The Phoenix Theatre in Firdale Village is performing “Kaputnik” weekends May 31-June 23. On the evening Sputnik is launched, a scientist and his E.T.-seeking assistant in a desert observatory notice a strange light in the sky. Three strangers in trench coats and fedoras arrive to lead the men in an international game of cat and mouse. Written by Frank Semerano, directed by Eric Lewis, this comedic mystery is sure to keep you laughing! Shows are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m.

The Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation is hosting a preview party and Artists of Tomorrow Benefit Wednesday, June 12th at the Frances Anderson Center. Attendees will be the first to peruse the Arts Festival’s juried galleries and an exhibit of Kate Larsson’s paintings, including her Ferry and Poppies, the inspiration for the 2013 poster. Appetizers by Shooby Doo Catering and wine will be served in the Gallery, but the party really gets going in the Plaza, where cocktails and desserts fuel a silent and a live auction to support the artists of tomorrow. Auction items include art from Hung Nguyen, Pam Harold, and Jennifer Bowman as well as gift baskets piled high with goods from Edmonds merchants. Tickets to the party are $50, and can be purchased online. The benefit is dedicated to fostering a future for artists in Edmonds by supporting local arts education projects at a time when public funding for the arts is hard to come by. Art is essential to the vitality of our community, and to every one of our individual neighbors. Even though it may seem like there is a benefit or music booster every other week, it is so important that each of us understands that without the incredible support Edmonds residents continue to pull out of their pockets, the abundant arts community in our town would not exist.

…which brings me to this somewhat bittersweet congratulations to the last three proud recipients of the Edmonds Arts Commission Literary and Performing Arts Scholarships. The EAC Scholarship, funded by the annual Writers on the Sound Conference, has been awarded every year since 1986 to help local college-bound seniors pursue their studies in literary and performing arts. For the foreseeable future, however, the general fund allocation to the Arts Commission is suspended and the proceeds from the Writers Conference will be used to support Arts Commission programming, such as summer concerts and other free events. The last three students to be honored by this award are: Sydney Bennett, a dancer and cheerleader from Edmonds- Woodway going on to study political journalism at the University of Washington; Marco Voli, also of EWHS, a triple-threat actor/writer/jazz musician who will be studying theater at Cornish College of the Arts; and Taylor Zickefoose of Meadowdale High School, an already accomplished jazz vocalist studying music at Central Washington University. Bravo! to these three outstanding students, and to the 60 others honored over the 28 year span of the EAC Scholarship.

 Artfully Edmonds columnist Juliet Brewster, an Edmonds native and Edmonds-Woodway High School graduate, has a degree in literature from Bennington College. To have your arts happening listed, email her at brewster.juliet@gmail.com.