Whether you want to spend this weekend practicing social distancing in person or staying entertained from home, there are lots and lots of options. We've rounded up our suggestions for in-person events and virtual happenings below—from the MLS is Back Tournament (featuring the Seattle Sounders on Friday) to a Tax Amazon Victory Party in Volunteer Park, and from the South Park Swap Meet to a virtual concert with Matt Gervais, Navid Eliot, and Shaina Shepherd. For even more options, check out our complete streaming events and protests & resistance calendars, as well as our guides to the best movies to stream at home this weekend, anti-racism resources and events, and food news you can use this week.

Masks are required for all in-person events!


Jump to: Friday | Saturday | Sunday

FRIDAY

COMMUNITY

Solitude Social Club
Hugo House's bookish happy hour gives the digital floor to guest writers every Friday evening. This week, tune in to hear how author Angie Kim (Miracle Creek) is finding happiness and meaning through literature during this period of isolation.

FOOD & DRINK

Nights on Meeker
Every Friday night in July, Puyallup's West Meeker Street will close to cars to make room for diners. Order takeout from your favorite South-end restaurant and enjoy a glimpse of normal summer behavior. 
Meeker Street (Puyallup) 

Rainier Beach Community Kitchen Dinner Cook-Along
Join Tilth Alliance, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, and local chefs for a virtual cooking class using seasonal ingredients and focusing on reducing waste in the kitchen. Go grocery shopping for the ingredient list featured on the registration website and get excited for a sheet-pan dinner of kielbasa with turnips and greens and an apricot crisp for dessert. 

MUSIC

Brooklyn Bowl 11th Anniversary
To celebrate 11 years, the New York City bowling alley is streaming 11 hours of live music, with help from Lagunitas, and performers including Tank and the Bangas, Big Freedia, Lotus, Fantastic Negrito, and many more. Donations made during the stream will help benefit the Jazz Foundation of America. BOBBY ROBERTS

Culture Talk with Fab 5 Freddy and ASAP Ferg
A pair of New York hip-hop legends get together and have a wide-ranging conversation not only about their own careers and the paths they walked to bring them where they are today; but also the process behind making the music they've made, and how that music reflects and amplifies the realities of racial inequalities they're living under. Fab 5 Freddy will host a Q&A after the conversation on Facebook. BOBBY ROBERTS

HDLSC Presents: POKER FACE - A Tribute to Lady Gaga
Sing along to your favorite Lady Gaga songs with tribute act Poker Face, performing live from High Dive's virtual stage. Proceeds will benefit Northwest Harvest. 

NVCS Presents: Stay Grounded
Seattle-based island reggae group Stay Grounded will play live on Nectar's YouTube channel. Donations will benefit Northwest Harvest. 

Work From Home Seattle Livestream: Season 2
This music series invites local artists to play live in-studios every Friday, which are livestreamed on Twitch. The second "season" kicks off with experimental singer-songwriter TeZATalks.

PERFORMANCE

DANCE This
After an intense collaboration with community and international artists, teens and adults will perform three new dance works for the 22nd iteration of this annual series.

READINGS & TALKS

The Jack Straw Reading Series
The 24th annual Jack Straw Reading Series will take place on Facebook Live. Catch weekly readings of poetry, prose, fiction, and creative nonfiction from the 2020 Jack Straw Writers. The series ends tonight with Jeffrey Lee Cheatham II, Arianne True, Jose Trejo-Maya, and Troy Osaki.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

COMMUNITY

Derby Days 2020 Virtual Edition
What began in 1940 as a bike derby and parade to raise money for holiday decorations and athletic equipment is now a celebration of Redmond's diverse community. Enjoy a couple days of virtual entertainment this year, including a Derby Dash 5K, a biking challenge and parade, bingo, an open mic, and an art show.

SPORTS & RECREATION

MLS Is Back Tournament
Soccer is back! Seattle's own Sounders FC will return to the field to compete in Major League Soccer's one-off tournament, marking the league's return after a COVID-19 hiatus. Watch them live from Disney World. See them play on Friday at 6 pm against the San Jose Earthquakes.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

FILM

The Land Before Time at accesso ShoWare Center Outdoor Cinema
Get ready to dissolve into nostalgic tears as baby sauropod dinosaur Littlefoot and his friends search for the Rock That Looks Like a Long-Neck, which will point them to safety and plenty in the Great Valley. Remember: Dreams see us through to forever! Enjoy these outdoor screenings from the safety of your car or motorcycle.
accesso ShoWare Center (Kent)

Seattle Black Film Festival 2020
Charles Mudede has written, "I have yet to attend a Langston Hughes African American Film Festival that doesn’t have an important black-directed or black-themed film that’s somehow been missed by the wider film community or is unavailable in any format—web, disk, cable, theater." This year's online program is slightly condensed, but you still shouldn't miss it. Saturday brings a block of shorts and a post-film panel about wisdom across generations, and Sunday brings a collection of documentary shorts highlighting voices across the Black American diaspora.

Seattle Deaf Film Festival 2020
Take in shorts and feature films by and for the Deaf communities of the US, Canada, the UK, Pakistan, Japan, and Switzerland.

FOOD & DRINK

Pinchy Bois Pop-Up
Ethan Stowell's summer pop-up at his Ballard restaurant Bramling Cross brings buttery lobster rolls and whole lobster, the pinchy bois in question, to your belly with sides of Old Bay fries and worms in dirt (a mixture of cookie crumbs, pudding, and gummy worms) for dessert.
Bramling Cross (Ballard)

Summer of Food & Wine
Through the end of July, head to Efestē's Woodinville tasting room for special food pairings every Wednesday-Saturday and tasty snacks every Sunday-Wednesday. At the Sodo location, they'll be serving up pizza and cheese and charcuterie plates from Monday-Saturday. 
Efestē (Woodinville, Sodo)

MUSIC

Doe Bay Artist Residency Program
Local artists have been invited to post up in the Orcas Island-adjacent Doe Bay Resort (which is currently operating at 50% capacity) to bring live music to the people throughout the summer. Catch sets in-person from resident performers like fierce foursome Thunderpussy this weekend.
Doe Bay Resort (Olga)

VISUAL ART

Virtual Wedgwood Art Festival
Check out (and buy) work by local artists in this weekend-long virtual festival.  You can even ask the artists about their work live over Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype. 

SATURDAY

COMMUNITY

Edible Garden Tour
Interested in making fewer grocery trips? Get tips on growing your own food from local gardeners on this walking tour in Ballard. 
Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church (Ballard)

Japanese American Incarceration on Indigenous Lands
A panel of Indigenous scholars and community leaders will delve into the Poston, Gila River, and Heart Mountain concentration camps, where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII. 

NAACP & Public Health Seattle King County Public Health Day
Black community members coping with the effects of COVID-19 and recent acts of racist police violence are invited to join the NAACP and Public Health Seattle King County for a day of free mental health sessions. 

Steamship Saturdays with Virginia V
Board the Virginia V cruise steamship on Saturdays for an hour-long narrated tour, where you'll learn about the historical sights along Lake Union. Tickets are limited due to reduced capacity.
Center for Wooden Boats (South Lake Union) 

T-Shirts & Tails
Seattle Humane's annual Tuxes & Tails fundraiser will get dressed down a notch for this online edition. Check out a virtual "kitten cuddle booth," bid on auction packages, and learn about comprehensive kitten care. 

FOOD & DRINK

CD Forum's Boujee Brunch Soiree
Supremely talented local dancer/choreographer Randy Ford will host this virtual, performance-filled fundraiser for the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas. It's a brunch ordeal, so guests are encouraged to order food in advance from Black-owned Central District restaurants Joyce's Market and Cafe and Taste of the Caribbean, or a special pan-African menu from Chef Mulu Abate. Wear your Sunday best! 

MUSIC

Baby Van Beezly: Quarantine Livestream
Celebrate our musical neighbors to the north with a night of Canadian dance jams with throwback queen DJ Van Beezly. She'll be spinning hits by the likes of Avril Lavigne, Carly Rae Jepsen, Alanis Morissette, and many others.

Diplo + Dillon Francis
DJ heavyweights Diplo and Dillon Francis will link up for back-to-back virtual sets on the Coronight Fever Show, livestreamed on YouTube. 

Emerald City Soul Club Social Distanced Soul Nite
Your favorite soul-spinning DJs will reclaim their spot on the Lo-Fi decks for the first IRL event since the quarantine started. They're moving tables and chairs around to allow enough space for a physically distant "cocktail lounge type of vibe," meaning you'll have to consense your grooving to your small group's designated space.  
Lo-Fi (Belltown) 

Field of Dreams Drive-In Concert
Reserve a spot for your car or RV and enjoy some live music presented by Morgan Henley Presents and Jam Revival Productions. Artists are still TBA.
Cook Brother's Farm (Carnation)

Little Red Hen Supper Club with Country Dave & Rod Cook
Trot your pony to Green Lake's honky-tonk dive for live music from Country Dave Harmonson and Rod Cook. Reservations are required. 
Little Red Hen (Green Lake)

Mako: Portal
Jack Straw resident artist Mako will celebrate the release of her new album Portal, which honors Okinawan musical traditions, with a livestreamed performance. 

NVCS Presents: Matt Gervais, Navid Eliot, and Shaina Shepherd
The Head and the Heart's Matt Gervais, Planes on Paper's Navid Eliot, and Bearaxe's Shaina Shepherd will treat you to some folk-rock solo sets on Nectar's YouTube channel—though the performers will actually be performing on Nectar's stage, using Nectar's microphones, under Nectar's lighting rig, as Christopher Frizzelle reports. Donations will benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center.

NVCS Presents: That Big '80s Party
Sink into six whole hours of glitzy throwbacks with DJ Dave Paul. 

Puddles Pity Party
Need more proof of the power of the internet? In 2013, an unknown seven-foot-tall clown set down his lantern (?), looked disdainfully into a camera, and boomed out a Lorde cover. Then reflect on how Puddles the Clown and his Puddles' Pity Party are headlining a big concert once again. The guy’s talented as hell, but INTERNET. DIRK VANDERHART

Stayin' Alive-stream!
DJ Ajax will take you back to days of disco with the help of drag queens, a magician, and live saxophone player on Twitch. 

Winnipeg Folk Fest at Home
If you love jamming out to folk and indie-rock music, you'll be thrilled to know that Canada's biggest July music festival has moved online this year. Head to YouTube for live sets from Seattle's own Brandie Carlile, Australia's Courtney Barnett, Arlo Guthrie, Waxahatchee, and other stars.

PERFORMANCE

Battle Crow Radio: Episode One
Stir up a glass of Ovaltine and tune into this Annex Theatre radio drama on YouTube, where you'll follow the whereabouts of two intrepid detectives tracking the murderer responsible for the death of one Kitten Swell. 

Drag Queen Mukbang
RuPaul's Drag Race Season Six competitor Laganja Estranja will host a night of games and performances online in support of Kansas City Pride Fest, New Orleans LGBT Hospitality Alliance, Portland Pride Waterfront Festival & Parade, and Three Dollar Bill Cinema. 

The Panel Jumper Live(streaming)
The multimedia Panel Jumper series takes you deep into the art of comic books and graphic novels. This virtual iteration, originally scheduled for May at West of Lenin, will look at the impact of black superheroes on comic book history and culture. 

PROTESTS & RESISTANCE

Memorial Garden Dedication
Local farmer Marcus Henderson and his local BIPOC gardening collective Black Star Farmers (who created the Cal Anderson community garden that sprung up in the early days of CHOP/CHAZ) will hold a dedication ceremony honoring George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other black Americans killed by police.
Cal Anderson Park (Capitol Hill)

State Capital March
Join antiracism activists for the second of two marches on the State Capital Building this month.
Capitol Building (Olympia)

Tax Amazon Victory Party!
Join your fellow Democratic Socialists in Volunteer Park for a physically distant victory party celebrating volunteers' hours of canvassing to tax Amazon and fund affordable housing and community programs. Musical performers include Guayaba and the Rise Up Action Band, with speakers still to be announced.  
Volunteer Park (Capitol Hill)

READINGS & TALKS

Land Back Featuring Guest Performers from Indigenize Productions
Guest artists from Indigenize Productions will treat you to a night of poetry, visual art, and performances by Native artists based in Seattle.

Quarantine Book Club: 'Giovanni's Room'
"Nothing is more dangerous than isolation, for men will commit any crimes whatever rather than endure it." James Baldwin wrote those words in 1954, while at the same time drafting Giovanni's Room, one of the most beautiful and frightening novels of the 20th century. In it, Baldwin imagines his way into a white man's mind—a tall, blond, cowardly white man, isolated by his own obliviousness. Though the book is widely considered a landmark of queer literature, it is many other things too: a suspense novel, a murder mystery, a love triangle (the narrator is torn between the love of a man and the love of a woman), a tragedy, and an unflinching depiction of the dark sides of whiteness. It's a slim, intense novel—only 169 pages—and while it is now considered one of the most daring and successful artistic gestures in American history, it was initially rejected by Baldwin's publisher, and more than one person told him it was not a good idea. They did not believe the world was ready for a book like this, and didn't believe Baldwin's reputation would survive. They were wrong. The book was a bestseller, and almost instantly regarded as a masterpiece. Over four weeks beginning, we will be reading Giovanni's Room and meeting weekly to discuss it, at a pace of about two chapters a week. For each weekly meeting, I will prepare a brief talk about some aspects of Baldwin's life or a close analysis of something in the text, and everyone else in the club (including you!) will have opportunities to share and discuss their reactions to the novel as well. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

The River That Made Seattle
Author BJ Cummings will read excerpts from The River That Made Seattle: A Natural and Human History of the Duwamish on Zoom and show new and old photographs highlighting the river's Native, immigrant, and industrialist histories. 

SHOPPING

Open Air Vintage & Art Market
Shop for home goods and vintage wares from Susan Wheeler Home, Fogue Gallery, Red Lemons, Baby and Co., Nancy Webber, and Kirk Albert Vintage at this outdoor market.
Kirk Albert Vintage Furnishings (Georgetown)

More Fats More Femmes: Quarantine Edition
Celebrate your babely bod while shopping for plus size vintage and pre-owned clothing and accessories at this stacked size-inclusive, social distancing-friendly market hosted by Indian Summer owner Adria Garcia, ex-IS manager (and current Stranger staffer) Kim Selling, and current IS shopkeep Abby Cooke. They'll have pieces from a wide variety of styles, from size 12 to 32+ on racks on the sidewalk. Masks are required. 
Indian Summer (Capitol Hill)

Spasm! The South Park Swap Meet!
Support artists and small businesses in Seattle's South Park neighborhood at this in-person shopping event co-presented by the Punk Rock Flea Market. Be sure to wear a mask and keep your distance. Hand sanitizer will be available for all customers.
Big Top Curiosity Shop (South Park)

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

MUSIC

Ideaison Presents: Retrospekt - A Virtual Experience
Billing itself as a "multi-genre cinematic music experience created to inspire a better future," this two-day virtual festival, filmed in Los Angeles, will highlight underrepresented voices in the music industry. Dance to live sets from Anabel Englund, Autograf, Loud Luxury, SNBRN, SOFI TUKKER, the Knocks, Vintage Culture, Akira Akira, Hikeii, and many others. Proceeds will benefit artist relief, To Write Love On Her Arms, and MusiCares.

J2v Virtual Festival
London's Junction 2 electronic music festival will bring many of the DJs booked for its original 2020 festival—like Adam Beyer, Alan Fitzpatrick, and Nina Kraviz—onto the virtual stage. On Sunday, Vice will co-host a day of panel discussions on issues related to Black representation in the music industry (the techno scene in particular). 

Selections from Sibelius Kullervo
Attention: Seattle Scandinavians. The Seattle Symphony and their Danish principal guest conductor (and future music director) Thomas Dausgaard are bringing you Sibelius's Kullervo, which will reportedly make you very horny for Finland folk mythology and for your snow-covered motherlands. Another thing to look forward to: soprano Maria Männistö, who has “one of the most hauntingly beautiful voices" the Seattle Times has heard in years. RICH SMITH

READINGS & TALKS

Jim Woodring Book Launch
Check out the latest collection from Jim Woodring, a local genius who "inks morphing cartoon dreamscapes and characters in stories unconstrained by words or traditional storylines," as former Stranger arts calendar editor Joule Zelman has written. His new book of cartoons And Now, Sir — Is This Your Missing Gonad? will be available for purchase.
Fantagraphics (Georgetown)

Portland Zine Symposium
If you've always wanted to go to the Portland Zine Symposium but can never find a ride, this year's event will put the best of Portland’s unique flavor of DIY creativity on display online. Registration is required, but most panels (and there's a lot of them) and programming are free of charge. Guests include Sarah Mirk, Joshua James, Kate Bingaman-Burt, members of the Independent Publishing Resource Center, and more.

SUNDAY

FILM

Critical Issues in Science: 'An Unlikely Insurgency' Premiere and Discussion
Watch all five episodes of the climate fiction miniseries An Unlikely Insurgency, then listen in on an online panel discussion. 

FOOD & DRINK

Valhalla Dinner Series Featuring House-Crafted Cocktails
This beer-centric dinner series will return (IRL!) with a six-course meal with full-size cocktail pairings. Exhibit A: a libation with beet-infused Aquavit, elderflower, apple shrub, ginger, lemon, and mint paired with farmhouse potato and beet salad and miso/shishito pepper soup.
SkĂĄl Beer Hall (Ballard)

MUSIC

Doubleclicks & Mega Ran & Molly Lewis Benefit Concert!
The Doubleclicks, Mega Ran, Danielle Radford, and Molly Lewis will perform live inside Animal Crossing's Dear Queer Cafe. Donations will go toward Black trans folks' medical bills!

READINGS & TALKS

Write-O-Rama: Summer 2020
Get the maximum amount of instruction from Hugo House's excellent prose writers and poets at this annual event (livestreamed this year) featuring five hours of mini-workshops and talks.

SPORTS & RECREATION

Strictly Seattle 2020
If you love dance, you can't miss this online festival of innovative choreography and experimental virtual workshops with Velocity Dance Center.Â