Jump to: Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Multi-Day
FESTIVALS
Remind
Like
List
Want to learn more about Korean culture? Then make plans to check out the fifth annual WABA Korea Expo & Festival, a free event where over 80 local and global businesses will showcase food, K-beauty products, handcrafted wares, and more. Previously held along the waterfront, the fest has moved to Magnuson Park, where attendees will marvel over cutting-edge tech side-by-side with traditional dance and music performances. SL
(Magnuson Park Hangar 30, Sand Point, free)
FILM
Remind
Like
List
This “blindfolded” cinema series is exactly what it sounds like—just show up and prepare to be titillated by whatever pops up on screen. Opportunities to be entirely surprised by a film don’t come along very often, so try it out as a reminder that there are still mysteries to uncover in the world. Or maybe you’ll hate it. Who knows! That’s the fun of the whole shebang. Go forth, switch off your brain, and let the enigma reveal itself. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, free)
Remind
Like
List
Every Friday this summer, starting July 26 through August 23, the Seattle Center is hosting outdoor movie screenings at the Mural Amphitheatre. Bring your blankets or low-back lawn chairs for The Princess Bride, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dune (1984), The Color Purple (2023), and my personal highlight, Singles. Watching Matt Dillon’s grunge frontman character Cliff Poncier explain the fictional song “Touch Me I’m Dick” to a music journalist while Alice in Chains play at a fictional nightclub on a 40-foot screen under the Space Needle? Doesn’t get much more Seattle than that. STRANGER ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR MEGAN SELING
(Mural Amphitheatre, Uptown, free)
LIVE MUSIC
Remind
Like
List
The rising Tacoma rock band Enumclaw will head up I-5 to support their forthcoming album, Home in Another Life, which drops next week. If the lead singles are any indication of the full album, expect plenty of warbling ’90s guitars, Dinosaur Jr.-esque vocals, and relatable topics like masturbation-fueled shame and “trying to be anything more than fucked up.” AV
(Easy Street Records, Junction, free)
EXHIBIT
Remind
Like
List
Kait Rhoads’ large-scale installation at Method Gallery centers an unsung environmental hero: kelp. (Did you know that kelp is a “primary producer that modifies the environment to create suitable habitats for a great diversity of species?” I did not!) Give your thanks to the squiggly stuff at Proto Kelp, which expresses reverence for all things Laminariales with a branching, collaborative poem in glass. LC
(Method Gallery, Pioneer Square, free)
FILM
Remind
Like
List
It’s high time we all showed Scarecrow Video some love—as our friends at The Stranger reported in July, “Scarecrow staff put out an SOS—Save Our Scarecrow—and announced that they need to raise $1.8 million before the end of 2024.” I can think of few better ways for the physical media mainstay to raise some moolah than with a film screening, so this event just makes sense. The Cat & The Canary, a “seminal 1927 spooky-house thriller comedy silent film” for the uninitiated, will be supplemented by a live original score by Corey J. Brewer. Expect decrepit mansions, plotting heirs, and one of cinema’s original scream queens, Laura La Plante, to make a screen appearance. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)
Remind
Like
List
C-ID Summer Cinema, the Seattle Asian American Film Festival’s free, family-friendly outdoor movie series, returns to Hing Hay Park. You’ll find live music, face painting, and popcorn before the movie each week. Don’t forget to grab some delicious Asian food from surrounding C-ID businesses before or after the screening. Bring a chair or a blanket and get ready for some fun films! SL
(Hing Hay Park, Chinatown-International District, free)
Remind
Like
List
Who better to advise you on what to watch this summer than Scarecrow Video, the physical media mainstay organization with a video collection that exceeds 130,000 titles?! They know what they’re talking about, people. Their film series, co-organized with the Maple Leaf Community Council, will serve up screenings on a “Women (and Girls) Saving the Day” theme this year. On August 24, there’s no crying in movie-watching, ‘cuz the series will continue with A League of Their Own at Maple Leaf Park. Moviegoers can pop up early to set up their chairs and blankets, grab beers, and take some guesses at trivia. LC
(Maple Leaf Reservoir Park, Northeast Seattle, free)
FOOD & DRINK
Remind
Like
List
Time flies—it’s already been a year since the award-winning Stoup Brewing opened its bustling location inside the former Optimism Brewing space on Capitol Hill. They’ll toast to the milestone with a pop-up from Noodle/Bar, live music, and plenty of special drink deals. JB
(Stoup Brewing, Capitol Hill, free)
LIVE MUSIC
Remind
Like
List
North Admiral neighboring restaurants Admiral Pub, Arthur’s, Mission Cantina, and Yen Wor are teaming up to throw a free outdoor mini-festival complete with shopping, drinks, and grooves. Look out for performances from punk quartet Princess Pulpit, the Potholes, indie rock outfit the Loveless Building, ’90s cover band Second Flannel, and more. AV
(Admiral Pub, North Admiral, free)
Remind
Like
List
Prolific cellist/experimental artist Lori Goldston, whose first major appearance was with Nirvana during their iconic MTV Unplugged set, will play a free show at Nellis Records with songs from her latest solo album, Convolutions. The album was recorded during a 2022 Ireland, showcasing Goldston’s knack for improvisation and spinning spontaneous moments into gold. AV
(Nellis Records, South Lake Union, $13.39)
Remind
Like
List
Pike Place Market’s hole-in-the-wall performance venue Rabbit Box is struggling to keep its doors open. You can help support by donating to their fundraising campaign or, better yet, by attending this super snazzy fundraiser cocktail party. The festivities include a silent live auction, raffles, and live performances from Hollis Hayes, Stella Hawthorne, and DJ Tristan Watkins. AV
(The Rabbit Box Theatre, Pike Place Market, $15)
SHOPPING
Remind
Like
List
Wa Na Wari has a long history of promoting Black creators and building community—they’ll continue the tradition this Saturday with an Afrikan Marketplace and double feature movie screening. Shop goods from local vendors like art, jewelry, and vintage clothing. Afterward, grab a seat to watch Disney’s The Princess and the Frog and Roll Bounce, a 2005 coming-of-age flick starring Bow Wow as a teen who turns to roller skating after losing his mother. SL
(Wa Na Wari, Central District, free)
Remind
Like
List
Taking a dip off Madrona Park Beach into Lake Washington sounds ideal in this heat wave (you could even bare it all at nearby Denny Blaine). While you’re drying off or killing time before sunset, head over to local salon and event space Rock Paper Scissors to check out their new night market series. There will be local vendors, tasty treats, and tunes from DJ Tai Lander. Past markets have featured handcrafted candles, art prints, and vintage threads. SL
(Rock Paper Scissors, Madrona, free)
VISUAL ART
Remind
Like
List
Envisioning the experience of an “alternate-dimensional life as a closeted (slash) ex-gay evangelist,” Christopher Paul Jordan’s THE END transforms the gallery space into a “queer comic-tract” in the style of African American illustrator Fred Carter. (Unfamiliar? Read more about Carter’s zany, ultra-religious comics here.) Jordan, a Tacoma-based artist, salvages textiles and considers removal and relocation to think critically about public space and human relationships. You might already be familiar with his work: Jordan’s multimedia sculpture andimgonnamisseverybody is the centerpiece of the AIDS Memorial Pathway in Capitol Hill. LC
(Veronica, Mount Baker, free)
COMEDY
Remind
Like
List
Although Jill Silva’s comedy career has branched out from her Tacoma roots and landed her in sunny Los Angeles, she’s not afraid to kick up some chuckles in her old stomping grounds. Fresh off several festival features (Treefort Fest, Upper Left Comedy Festival) and opening sets for Janeane Garofalo, Jon Dore, Marcella Arguello, and Jamali Maddix, Silva will share tales of biking, mischief, and Hank Hill butt. LC
(Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown, $15)
COMMUNITY
Remind
Like
List
As much as I hate to admit it, summer is winding down. Make the most of the weekend by hopping a ferry to Bainbridge Island and volunteering at this restoration event, where you’ll help restore a much-loved troll creation by recycle artist Thomas Danbo. The towering Bruun Idun sculpture (compatriot to the Nordic Museum’s Frankie Feetsplitter) plays her flute near the shoreline to ask the orcas why they have all left Puget Sound, standing as a reminder to take care of our natural world. Once Bruun Idun’s habitat has been beautified, the SCAN Design Foundation will treat folks to an ice cream social. SL
(Lincoln Park, Fauntleroy, free)
FILM
Remind
Like
List
In the 1980s, my film professor assigned us Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, auteur Melvin Van Peebles’s low-budget, avant-garde, proto-Blaxploitation film. My main memory is of Van Peebles running away from the “pigs” to the extraordinary, kinetic funk of pre-hit-making Earth, Wind & Fire while wearing gold velvet trousers. It’s a motif that sticks with you. The plot—wherein Sweetback (MVP), a brothel sex show performer who gets trapped in a convoluted scheme involving a Black Panther, tries to escape US authorities by crossing into Mexico—is less important than the fantastic soundtrack, the sex and fight scenes, and the sensation of Black men beating the system while looking fly. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR DAVE SEGAL
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill)
LIVE MUSIC
Remind
Like
List
Wowza, the city is amping up the free summer concerts this year! Just ahead of their tour with Weezer and the Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr.’s original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph will swing through Westlake Park for a free concert next to the most stressful Sephora on earth (IYKYK). The legendary Massachusetts indie rockers will take the outdoor stage after opening sets from local favorites the Black Tones and Muneca. AV
(Westlake Park, Downtown, free)
FESTIVALS
Remind
Like
List
Since its beginnings in the 1800s as the Snohomish County Fair, the Evergreen State Fair (not to be confused with the larger Washington State Fair) has been a home for livestock and agricultural exhibits. It still has those things, but has also added attractions like monster truck and NASCAR races, a rodeo, food stands, carnival games, and other modern fair trappings. Since you’re already there, shell out a little extra to see Martina McBride or Flo Rida perform. SL
(Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe, $13-$70, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Festival Sundiata (pronounced: soon-jah-tah) is the longest-running African American festival in the Pacific Northwest, and was named in remembrance of Sundiata Keita, founder of the Mali Empire. The celebration highlights the many cultures and traditions of people of African descent through music, art, performance, and food. Get your groove on at the Mural Amphitheatre to the smooth tunes of Jeffrey Osborne, R&B group the S.O.S. Band, and Earth, Wind & Fire tribute band Kalimba. Inside the Armory, you’ll find more live music, historical exhibits, and local photographers and artists showing off their work. SL
(Seattle Center, Uptown, free, Friday–Sunday)
FILM
Remind
Like
List
The American Genre Film Archive, aka the “world’s only nonprofit archive and film distributor dedicated to preserving and protecting the greatest genre films of all time,” celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, which means it’s time for you to plop your butt in a seat for some of the weirdest exploitation filmmaking, found footage feasts, underground trash art, and riot grrrl flicks imaginable. AGFA makes rescuing forgotten features look easy—their archives house over six thousand 35mm film prints. In partnership with Something Weird Video and AGFA, SIFF will screen some solid selections from the collection. Expect everything from The Zodiac Killer, a ’71 flick “made to capture the real-life Zodiac Killer, but instead deliver[ing]…outrageous and compelling ‘tabloid horror,’” to John Cassavetes films, Sarah Jacobson’s punk-inflected DIY films, and the world’s first found footage horror. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $14.50-$15.50, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Seattle Parks and Recreation presents this summer series of much-loved film screenings under the stars, with pre-movie activities kicking off around 6 or 7 pm and each film beginning at dusk. The series continues this weekend with the ’99 teeny-bopper Taming of the Shrew interpretation 10 Things I Hate About You. (Don’t forget your baby tees.) On August 24, Lilo & Stitch will remind you that ‘ohana means family at Hing Hay Park. LC
(Various locations, free, Friday–Saturday)
Remind
Like
List
LA/206 director Zia Mohajerjasbi‘s debut feature Know Your Place is a film that everyone in Seattle (and all other major cities) should (must) watch. It is a packed work, and so unpacking it all is nothing but impossible within the obvious attentional limits imposed on blog posts. But, I will begin by saying the star of this film is, above all, Seattle. But this star has two important and different parts. One: the city that’s becoming, class wise, homogenous. This kind of city has less and less space for the working classes. Two: the city that’s losing its color. Black Americans were the first to go. Now it’s black Africans. Next will be East Asian Americans. Know Your Place takes place in the now. Read more of Charles Mudede’s review on The Stranger. STRANGER SENIOR WRITER CHARLES MUDEDE
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $14.50-$15.50, Friday–Saturday)
Remind
Like
List
The electrified, freaked-out world of Mandy is challenging to describe, but picture a giallo flick set to a drone metal soundtrack featuring a demonic biker gang, and you’re maybe halfway there. Nicolas Cage is at the absolute top of his game here, and I say that without a hint of sarcasm. He plays an ’80s-era Pacific Northwest logger-turned-chainsaw-wielding-revenge-hound, and director Panos Cosmatos’ phantasmagoric vision is the visual equivalent of a lucid dream. Just trust me on this one. Come prepared for the kind of ultraviolence of a “disintegrating rock opera.” LC
(Central Cinema, Central District, $12, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Catherine Breillat’s filmmaking approach is very, well, French—she often seeks to illuminate the taboo in provocative explorations of desire, violence, and women’s psychology. Grand Illusion’s celebration of the controversy queen spans every decade of her directing career, including screenings of brand-new 4K restorations (A Real Young Girl, 36 Fillette, and PerfectLove) and Janus Films’ 35mm print of my favorite Breillat, the abrupt and rattling 2001 film Fat Girl. LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, Friday–Sunday)
FOOD & DRINK
Remind
Like
List
If you couldn’t get enough of Li’l Woody’s Burger Month, in which the local fast-food chain offers new burger specials created in collaboration with local chefs each week, get ready for their Seafood Month. This version gives the Burger Month format a fishy spin, with exclusive sandwich creations inspired by the bounty of the sea. This week’s chef special is the Emerald City Catfish Sandwich (fried catfish, remoulade, lettuce, and tomato on a Li’l Woody’s bun) from Stevie Allen of Emerald City Fish & Chips (August 20-26). JB
(Li’l Woody’s, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Happy rosé season to those who celebrate! Whatever your thoughts on the ubiquitous blush beverage, it’s hard to imagine a drink better suited for summer. Throughout the month, the farm-to-table pop-up-turned-restaurant Three Sacks Full will offer a weekly rotation of rosé specials by the glass, culminating in a special rosé dinner on August 28. (Co-owner Matthew Curtis is a licensed sommelier, so you can expect some well-curated picks.) JB
(Three Sacks Full, Roosevelt, $10-$14, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Vampires, be warned: This three-day festival goes all out with food, music, arts, and crafts to celebrate the legendary “stinking rose,” otherwise known as garlic. Enjoy delightfully pungent specials such as garlic pizza, smoked garlic heads, garlic ice cream, garlic shaved ice, and garlic Cajun seafood boils. Just be sure to bring some breath mints along. (Tip: Check out the quirky 1980 documentary Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers to get excited about garlic’s rich culture before you go.) JB
(Southwest Washington Fair, Chehalis, $0-$7, Friday–Sunday)
OUTDOORS
Remind
Like
List
Thanks to the tireless efforts of countless ecological stewards, Washington’s salmon population is slooooowly rebounding, and you can learn all about how these humble fish support our entire ecosystem at a family-friendly gathering by the Ballard Locks. Salmon may look like slippery little weirdos, but their whole lives are fascinating quests rivaling those of the most intrepid adventurers. And here in Seattle, we’re fortunate to be able to cheer them along on their journey—one that helps keep countless other species from dropping off the face of the Earth. The Salmon Journey gatherings are hosted by trained naturalists on Saturdays from July to September; you’ll learn how to spot a spawning salmon, about their surprisingly epic exploits, and the cruel enemy threatening to wipe them out. (Shocking twist: It’s people!) FORMER STRANGER STAFF WRITER MATT BAUME
(Ballard Locks, Ballard, free, Saturday–Sunday)
PERFORMANCE
Remind
Like
List
Can’t get enough of the gigantic, hand-built troll sculptures that have popped up in scenic spots throughout the Pacific Northwest? Same here—Danish artist Thomas Dambo’s recycled Nordic trolls aren’t only huge and delightful, they also illustrate critical lessons of environmental stewardship. Drawing from Scandinavian folklore, playwright Bryan Willis’ whimsical new production tells the story of the Vashon Island troll, who’s a protector of birds. Take a scenic day trip to the Heron Meadow at the Vashon Center for the Arts for a late summer fantasy. LC
(Vashon Center for the Arts, Pay-what-you-can)
VISUAL ART
Remind
Like
List
I wasn’t previously familiar with artist Andrea Dezsö’s work, but I’ve quickly become a fan: Dezsö’s detailed pochoir stenciling techniques, charming birch-carved designs, embroidered musings, and pyrovitreography reveal an artist who fears no medium. Her work also feels distinctly more bouba than kiki. I’m in love with the weird little guys populating her compositions, and I want to know all about their folktale-informed world, which also grapples with “women’s roles, authoritarianism, family, ideological and societal influence on the individual, relationships with nature, and the body.” You’ll probably dig it, too. LC
(Traver Gallery, Downtown, free, Friday–Saturday)
Remind
Like
List
Little has been revealed about Seattle-based artist Claudia Fitch’s solo exhibition Models and Messengers, but I’m already intrigued. The artist’s smart, playful sculptural work is always a quizzical journey for the eyeballs, often sourcing cultural narratives from pop and art history to bold, inventive ends. I’m excited to see what she’s come up with this time—will she be working in bronze, ceramic, cast resin, or another medium entirely? (Fitch has also created quite a few of the city’s public works; see if you recognize any.) LC
(Greg Kucera Gallery, Pioneer Square, free, Friday–Saturday; closing)
Remind
Like
List
In Rest/Less, Less/Rest, Tacoma-born painter David Hytone renders complicated scenes in acrylic and on Okowara paper, a thick, fibrous Japanese handmade paper made of kozo and sulphite pulp. The solo exhibition feels rife with symbolism—titles like The Bureau of Hypnagogia Human Resources Department Would Like a Word and Three Seventeen AM in the Arms of Saint Dymphna feel like glimpses into the artist’s dreamscape. “I am interested in the intersection between specificity and approximation, particularly how this relationship informs our perception of the world around us and the role memory plays in that interface,” the artist explained in a recent bio. That sense of interplay reveals itself in Rest/Less, Less/Rest; moments of heavy detailing are found among floating heads and abstracted forms. LC
(Greg Kucera Gallery, Pioneer Square, free, Friday–Saturday; closing)
Remind
Like
List
I’ve had more than my share of transcendent experiences in traditional “white box” galleries, but criticisms of these spaces are valid, too—hushed, austere art spaces tend to “leave many feelings out of the narrative,” FRESSSSSH! argues. One approach? A partnership between the Office of Arts and Culture and Seattle City Light is presenting a “summer Young Adult/Youth Curatorial Residency,” Fresh Perspectives. Aiming to spotlight those who may not feel represented in traditionally curated spaces, this exhibition by BIPOC youth curators includes works by stellar BIPOC artists Damon Brown, Aramis Hamer, Warren W. Pope, and Kellie Colemon. LC
(King Street Station, SoDo, free, Friday–Saturday)
Remind
Like
List
Lino Tagliapietra: Maestro, Mentore welcomes the legendary Venetian glassblower, maestro Lino Tagliapietra, to exhibit works alongside his team members, Nancy Callan, Jen Elek, John Kiley, Dante Marioni, and Dave Walters, for an exhibition that “tell[s] a story of artistic mentorship and mutual reverence.” The team’s sense of pattern and angular forms is dizzying to behold. LC
(Traver Gallery, Downtown, free, Friday–Saturday)
Remind
Like
List
As someone who just spent a few weeks in eastern Oregon, the words “smoke season” elicit an all-too-familiar burn in the throat. Christian French’s Untitled (Exodus series), a brutal red-tinged and desolate photograph featured in SOIL’s new group exhibition Smoke Season, elicits a similar somatic memory. “The Anthropocene has become the Pyrocene,” the show materials assert; I’m intrigued by Tim Marsden’s fiery embroidery and janet galore’s Smoke Break, a three-minute video looped on a vintage television set installed in the gallery. LC
(SOIL, Pioneer Square, free, Friday–Sunday)
Remind
Like
List
Zachary Schomburg, a Portland poet who “combines narrative techniques with surrealism to great effect” (Stranger news editor Rich Smith) is my favorite kind of person, insistent on creating in myriad mediums. And as an illustrator and painter, Schomburg’s work still feels informed by his writing practice. Cake, Hands, and Light, the artist’s first solo show at Koplin Del Rio, “leans into light and color” with juicy, vivid compositions and great titles. “Pity the Mean,” “Sorry Head,” and “Pawn Cake” are some of my faves. LC
(Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Georgetown, free, Friday–Saturday)
EverOut Staff
Source link