Food, friends and fun will be in full force in Kirkland on Sunday, as the biggest neighborhood in Kirkland hosts a community get-together for residents to meet and enjoy some entertainment. The Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance will host the seventh annual DennyFest at O.O. Denny Park from noon to 4 p.m. for an afternoon of free music, entertainment and food.

DennyFest will feature Kirkland resident and musician Geoffrey Castle for the second year in a row. Castle is a rocker style electric violin player with a band full of local musicians.

“It was a slam dunk that we would want them back,” DennyFest organizer Marc Ackerman said.

Also performing on the music stage will be Afro-Caribbean group Bochinche and acoustic Kirkland musician Jessie Oliver, who recently played at Kirkland Summerfest.

“[Bochinche] is very different from Castle but it is still ‘put a good smile on your face’ music,” Ackerman said.

Castle and his band play the Wilde Rover in downtown Kirkland every Monday along with regional and some national shows.

“We don’t have much of a budget but they make it affordable,” Ackerman said.

That feeling of community volunteerism permeates the organization of the event as local businesses and neighbors donate time and resources.

“One of the Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance members is paying for the bouncy house and another is donating the wireless [PA] system for the dog show,” Ackerman said.

Many local businesses including QFC, Padria Mediterranean Cafe and Amante Pizza are donating food and other goods as everything, including food and beverages, for the event is free to the public.

DennyFest will also feature many different modes of entertainment, including the annual dog show with parade and contests for best trick, costume and treasure hunt. The dog show is sponsored by Kirkland businesses Denny’s Pet World, Dooley’s Dog House, KDOG and PupScrub. Prizes will be handed out for each friendly competition.

“Throughout all the events, I think we had 30 different dogs last year,” said Ackerman, who was the MC in 2013.

DennyFest will also welcome back magician Ruben Barron and have a numerologist and fortune teller.

Another popular event returning is the chili cook-off.

“One of my colleagues suggested we put a ceiling on the number of entries this year,” Ackerman said.

The cook-off will accept up to a dozen entries and ask that participants to bring one big pot or two smaller pots. The chili, along with a pie baking contest, will be judged by those in attendance.

The city of Kirkland will also have representatives from the fire department, parks, Green Kirkland, CERT and the Northshore Utility District to answer any questions from residents. There will also be  complimentary massages available.

Last year DennyFest hosted 600-700 people but there was a slight conflict as it was planned for the same time as the first game of the Seattle Seahawks regular season. This year the Hawks played on Thursday to open the season.

But Ackerman said that there are always conflicts and you can never predict the weather.

“We are in Seattle festival season so there is always something else going on,” Ackerman said.

The event is a little smaller than the one he helped organize earlier this year – the Seattle Pride Parade.

“[DennyFest] only takes about two months to put together,” Ackerman said. “We have a wonderful and loyal group on the organization committee who make it pretty easy.”

He also said that the city of Kirkland has been easy to work with and that he would be lost without Finn Hill Neighborhood Alliance President Scott Morris.

“He has been instrumental in pulling this thing together,” Ackerman said.

O.O. Denny Park is located at 12032 Holmes Point Dr. NE on the shores of Lake Washington.