The Seattle Music Fest is an annual weekend-long celebration of, you guessed it, music. And with 24 local and national artists playing over the course of one weekend (starting 4:00 p.m. Friday, ending 10:00 p.m. Sunday), I don't have enough room to cover everything, so instead I'll just list off a couple highlights.

On Friday both Schoolyard Heroes and Post Stardom Depression perform (Schoolyard goes on about 8:00 p.m., PSD around 9:00 p.m.). The Schoolyard Heroes just did some tour time down the coast, but the band has also been busy writing new material, which they've been trying out at recent shows. After catching the latest jams at the Block Party, I can report back that fans of their ass-kicking zombie rock will surely be pleased.

Dolour and the Ruby Doe close out the night on Saturday, and I couldn't be more excited, since I've been listening to Dolour's Suburbiac this summer. Their sweet, lush pop is the perfect companion for these warm sunny days. And the Ruby Doe, well, there's nothing sweet about 'em--they play rock 'n' roll straight up, with plenty of math rock melodies.

You can see Blue Sky Mile on Sunday afternoon (ya'll know I love them), and bringing the entire festival to a close is former Soul Coughing frontman Mike Doughty.

I know what you're thinking--a lot of these bands play around town often enough for you to catch them some other time--but dude, this show is all happening on a beach, Alki Beach in West Seattle, actually. And besides that, it's free! (Although they do happily accept "pay-what-you-can" donations.) All of which makes this the coolest beach party in town.

And speaking of parties, on Saturday the 14th, there's a big ol' birthday bash at the Paradox for a good friend of mine, Mr. Chunk (Brian Kelly, actually, but you can call him Chunk). Besides being a complete badass (with some of the most outrageous and hilarious stories you'll ever hear), Chunk is also the kindest and most sincere person you'll ever meet. Whether he's volunteering at the Paradox, booking shows, recording bands, or letting touring artists crash at his house (and making his famous Slayer-cakes in the morning), Chunk has been a longtime supporter of Seattle's all-ages music community, so of course he gets a rock show on his birthday.

Headliners Momma (AKA Vertibird) are coming from San Diego with their Superchunk-ish indie rock, and opening are the Insurgence (great local melodic pop punk), Life in Braille, and Amy Cooper. The show starts at 7:00 p.m., it's free, and seeing as how it's Chunk's birthday, it'll probably be a little crazy. But in the best way possible. MEGAN SELING

megan@thestranger.com