The heat wave may be over, but festival season is still very much alive. In addition to major events like the Seafair Weekend Festival, this weekend is bursting with activities for families (like the Umoja Fest), music lovers (like Summer Meltdown), and everyone in between. Find them all below, and check out our festivals calendar for future dates.
ARTS
Anacortes Arts Festival
Fine artists and artisans will sell their wares at this beloved festival, which will also have three stages—one for mainstream rock/pop, one for jazz, and one for diverse genres of performance—and lots of food booths to nourish the 80,000-some visitors.
Friday-Sunday, Anacortes
Proctor Arts Fest Day
The artsy Tacoma district will host over 135 artist and artisan vendors, three stages of live music, a free screening of Goonies at the Blue Mouse Theatre, a vintage car show, and extended farmer's market hours.
Saturday, Tacoma
San Juan Summer Arts Festival
Browse art, eat food, drink local beer, wine, and liquor, get henna tattoos and tarot readings, and much more as you're treated to live music.
Friday, Brickworks Plaza (Friday Harbor)
Seattle Art Fair
The fair, only in its fourth year, is on its way to becoming a major tradition. This year's fair edition will "explore identity, modes of play, and technology," with monumental machines, performances based in indigenous ceremony, and talks on cultural spaces of the future hosted alongside visual displays. Galleries from Korea, Canada, Japan, the UK, China, Singapore, and France will show pieces; New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will also be well represented. The art will range from intimate and esoteric to large-scale and cutting-edge. Some of Seattle's most essential galleries will attend in force: Davidson, Greg Kucera, Foster/White, Linda Hodges, and more.
Friday-Sunday, CenturyLink Field Event Center (Downtown)
COMMUNITY
Kite Festival
Bring your most impressive kites and fly them through the air for all to see. Or, bring a beach blanket and enjoy the kite-flying talents of others. There will also be demonstrations, face-painting, and more.
Saturday, Central Meadow (University Place)
Jet Blast Bash
Get prime views of the rare WWII-era aircrafts in the Blue Angels' air show, enjoy live music by the Mix and the Boeing Employee Stage Band, and hang out in a beer garden.
Saturday-Sunday, Museum of Flight (Tukwila)
Magnolia Summerfest
Parades, live music, food and Urban Craft Uprising vendors, outdoor movies, bouncy houses, and much more will all be within reach at the Magnolia SummerFest throughout Seafair weekend.
Friday-Sunday, Magnolia Summerfest (Magnolia)
Lake City Seafair Festival
Formerly known as SalmonFest, this community festival features a salmon bake and food truck roundup, a big parade, a vintage car show, and lots of other family-friendly happenings.
Saturday, NE 130th St and Lake City Way NE (Lake City)
Seafair Weekend Festival
The summer-long Seafair Festival culminates in a three-day extravaganza of signature outdoor activities like the Blue Angels' air shows, Hydroplane racing, the Graham Trucking Seafair Cup, and a wakeboarding championship.
Friday-Sunday, Genesee Park (Columbia City)
CULTURE
Umoja Fest
Celebrate African diaspora culture in the Northwest by joining the Africatown Heritage Parade (featuring dance troops and drill teams), dancing to live music (including Soul N the Park, a roots stage, and a hiphop stage), watching the Heal the Hood Basketball Tournament, eating from food trucks, and shopping for goods at a marketplace.
Friday-Sunday, Judkins Park (Atlantic)
FOOD & DRINK
2018 Bellingham Northwest Wine Festival
For the third year, the coastal town will showcase 50 Pacific Northwest wineries and eight Whatcom County restaurants. Admission includes access to wineries, food samples, and a souvenir glass. Plus, guests can replenish their bodies in a "hydration lounge" by Still Life Massage and Float.
Saturday, Four Points by Sheraton (Bellingham)
Browns Point Salmon Bake
Jerry Meeker—also known by his Native name, La-Hal-Da—was instrumental in the development of the Browns Point/Dash Point area in the 1940s. He was also famous for his fish-cooking technique at traditional salmon bakes, which involved alder wood fire pits. Honor his legacy by tasting fresh-caught Alaskan salmon cooked the same way.
Saturday-Sunday, Browns Point Improvement Club (Tacoma)
Olympia Brew Fest
Head to the capital city to taste offerings from over 30 Northwest breweries, graze on food, and listen to live music.
Saturday, Port Plaza (Olympia)
GEEK
Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire
Indulge in your love of Renaissance-era chivalry, mythical creatures, pirates, and more at this three-weekend fair.
Saturday-Sunday, the Kelley Farm (Bonney Lake)
MUSIC
Chateau Ste. Michelle Festival of Jazz
A whole day of live jazz classics and new interpretations from featured artists: Chris Botti, Morgan James, Sarah Niemietz and Snuffy Walden, and Tuck and Patti.
Saturday, Chateau Ste. Michelle (Woodinville)
Doe Bay Fest 11
Doe Bay Resort is on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands north of Seattle. Their four-day grassroots festival features music, food, and hot tubbing. Pedro the Lion still sound like the crankiest Christian band ever. For fave second-best act, I’ll take the whole notion of singing along to Simon & Garfunkel, courtesy of Planes on Paper. Also featuring music from Telekinesis, the Dip, Black Tones, Acid Tongue, Vox Mod, Parisalexa, Falon Sierra, and more. Bring sunscreen and bug repellent! ANDREW HAMLIN
Friday-Sunday, Doe Bay Resort (Olga)
Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival
Head to scenic Orcas Island for concerts celebrating various expressions of chamber music. Think of it as "classical music with a view."
Friday-Saturday, Orcas Center (Eastbound)
Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival
Sink into blues with musicians from the Mississippi Delta to the deep wells of Texas, and steep your ears in this great American cultural expression of their acoustic talents.
Friday-Sunday, McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Worden State Park (Port Townsend)
Seventh Annual Watershed Festival
Watershed Country Music Festival will return to the Gorge for a wild weekend of twangin' goodness. Put on your "Shedder gear" (trucker hats?) and get ready for three whole days of down-home studs, including Blake Shelton, Brad Paisley, Cassadee Pope, Big & Rich, and more.
Friday-Sunday, Gorge Amphitheatre (George)
Summer Meltdown 2018
Nestled in the mountains of central Washington, Summer Meltdown aims to provide a weekend of high-energy live music performances in a lush woodland setting. Headliners will include Bassnectar, Big Gigantic, Greensky Bluegrass, Lettuce, and Beats Antique, and there will also be "adventures" like rafting, helicopter rides, and kayaking.
Friday-Sunday, Darrington Bluegrass Music Park (Arlington)
