Things to Do in Seattle
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Food and Drink / Visual Arts / Live Music
Performance / Film / Special Events / Readings and Lectures / On Sale Now
Seattleites are spoiled for choice when it comes to spending our leisure time. Just take a look at the sheer variety of options: We have an exceptional array of museums, independent bookstores, restaurants, bars (and bar trivia), record stores, nightlife options, local shops, and a rich music landscape.
And the actual landscape? Outdoor recreation opportunities abound, especially if you subscribe to the “no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing” mindset (if you don’t, are you really from Seattle?). From abundant hikes, swimming holes, state parks, and campgrounds just beyond city limits to a voluminous urban trail system, there’s something for the outdoorsperson of every skill and stoke level. Those with little ones (human or furred) can rejoice at a bevy of great playgrounds, spray parks, and zoos.
But if you just want a guide already, we've got plenty for food, outdoors, shopping, and entertainment. Plus, a shortlist of what to do in Washington this month. Or find below the best things to do in Seattle, updated weekly.
Food and Drink
Seattle Beer Week
may 17-24, various | various, free
If there's one thing Seattle's nosh scene does right, it's craft beer. The 15-year-old week-long celebration kicks off at Old Stove Brewing, where the official fest beer (Whereas West Coast IPA) is unveiled to the fanfare of live music and old-school superhero costumes. The rest of the week hold gems like a Christmas in May party, yoga at Aslan, and a wing sauce competition.
Bacon, Eggs, and Kegs
june 1–2, 11am–3pm | lumen field, $45–55
Breakfast people rejoice: Lumen Field is your playground. Tickets unlock drinks—including a 30-foot-long DIY Bloody Mary bar—brunch bites, and live music. A giant inflatable skillet affords silly photos and bacon cosplay while on-theme games like egg toss and bacon bingo can turn anyone into a brunch-lover.
Spill the Tea
through june 30, various | pennyroyal, menu
Belltown's European-style Pennyroyal speakeasy unveils the season's finest in honor of Bridgerton's season three release. Taking a page from Lady Whistledown's notebook, tea-infused cocktails with monikers like The Duke and I and Diamond of the Season are served alongside a gossip card with spicy conversation starters.
Visual Arts
Sky Hopinka: Subterranean Ceremonies
through may 26, 11am–5pm | frye art museum, free
Washington-born artist Sky Hopinka explores the ways language shapes our perception of place, alternating between English and Indigenous dialects in four films and a selection of photographs. The Frye exhibition elicits contemplation on personal and political notions of Indigenous homeland.
Alterations
through june 2, various | photographic center northwest, free
Collage meets film in the Central District gallery: ticket stubs, cigarette wrappers, and torn book pages are just some of the everyday ephemera melded with the photography of six PNW artists in Photographic Center Northwest's current exhibition.
The Travel Cats by Mari Ichimasu
through june 30, 10am–7pm | seattle japanese garden, $10
Among the koi ponds, rhododendrons, and tranquil bridges of the Capitol Hill gardens, felines travel alongside visitors. Watercolored paintings bring a dozen of Seattle-based Japanese artist Mari Ichimasu's two-dimensional cats—decked out in cute travel outfits, touristy cameras, and trusty backpacks—to the gardenscape.
Live Music
LCD Soundsystem
may 16–19, 8pm | the paramount theatre, $150–199
The New York indie outfit booked their farewell show in 2011; the four-night run at the Paramount is just a bonus. And with electric, disco-like live shows, it's a blessing.
Girl in Red
may 20–21, 8pm | paramount theatre, resale
The Oslo-based alternative pop artist opened for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, and she's a musical powerhouse in her own right. Expect intimate songwriting and a powerful stage presence from the queer icon. If this needed to get any gayer, The Beaches will open in a special appearance on the Paramount stage.
Samara Joy
may 25, 8pm | taper auditorium, $20–90
Three-time Grammy winner Samara Joy might be young, but she brings back old school jazz. Her 2022 album Linger Awhile cemented her under the Verve Records label alongside legendary female jazz voices who came before her: Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Performance
Chinwag
May 17, 8pm | the great hall, $25–125
Award-winning actor Paul Giamatti and philosophy professor Stephen Asma host a live taping of their one-year-old podcast Chinwag. Things get esoteric and philosophical quickly; their uninhibited chats could cover anything from the interdimensionality of Bigfoot to the simulation we all so clearly live in.
Coppélia
MAY 31–JUNE 9, VARIOUS | MCCAW HALL, $30–210
Lauded as one of ballet's greatest comedies, the whimsy of a doll maker's workshop and misplaced love has enthralled audiences since its 1870 debut. In the Pacific Northwest Ballet rendition there are spells, life-like toys, potions, and true love—everything a borderline fairytale needs.
Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position
through june 15, various | jewell Mainstage Theatre, $25–62
Drawing on the classic literary character, the Taproot Theatre production weaves a tale of deception, suspense, and deadly mystique inside Greenwood's jewel box of a theater.
FILM
Paprika
may 17–22, 4 and 9:30pm | Central cinema, $12
An artistic anime dreamscape, 90-minute Paprika blends science fiction with the tale of a heist. Protagonist Dr. Atsuko Chiba creates a device that allows therapists to view the dreams of their patients. When it's stolen, the doctor puts detective skills to work.
Seattle International Film Festival
through may 19, various | various, $17.50–1,619.99
Seattle, you know the drill. This is the annual event no self-respecting cinephile would miss. Obviously there are the films—all 159 of them—but the folks at SIFF have more up their sleeves: a Hacks screening and conversation with Jean Smart, glitzy opening night soiree at Paramount Theatre, and brunch with June Squibb.
Grand Illusion 20th Anniversary Series
may 21–30, various | grand illusion cinema, $11
The cozy University District theater is celebrating two decades as a volunteer-run nonprofit cinema, but they're not narcissistic enough to think they're the only ones worth commemorating. Some of their favorite films—1978 zombie flick Dawn of the Dead and 25-year-old Magnolia—screen this month in honor of another trip around the sun.
SPECIAL EVENTS
17th of May
may 17, 10am–8pm | national nordic museum, free
It's easy to believe that the Norwegian Constitution Day festivities in Seattle are the world's largest outside of Oslo and Bergen when the day holds a parade, Fjord horse petting zoo, live Nordic music, a food hall, and an in-house genealogist to find out if you're really Nordic.
Sunset Market and Listening Sessions
may 18, 5–10pm | The Shop by Porter, $10
Hyper creative The Shop By Porter transforms into a house party, marketplace hybrid. Overlooking the Puget Sound, DJs lend hi-fi deep listening, Joshua Dahlquist hand-pokes tattoos, and three vendors hawk vibey wares.
Northwest Folklife Festival
may 24–27, various | seattle center, free
The annual celebration centers local creativity like no other: vocational artisans demo their skills, open-invite contra dances take over the Fisher Pavilion, fashion shows parade styles new and old, and a rotating cast of musicians keep the heartbeat of the festival alive for four straight days.
READINGS AND LECTUREs
SAM Talks: Jed Perl
may 17, 6:30–8pm | seattle art museum, $10
The SAM world has revolved around Alexander Calder's mobiles ever since they unveiled over 45 of his works in November. Art critic, author, and Calder biographer Jed Perl brings context and a career retrospective to the conversation, kicking off the SAM's weekend-long Calder Symposium.
Project Aurora Panel Discussion
may 23, 7pm | national nordic museum, free
Missed the aurora borealis show last weekend? Ballard artist Ginny Ruffner employed microprocessors and 34,560 individual LED bulbs to mimic the natural phenomenon inside the National Nordic Museum. She'll chat with co-creators technologist Ed Fries and scholar Wanda Gregory about the making of the 20-foot by 10-foot installation.
Kathleen Hanna
may 24, 7pm | third place books ravenna, $73-164
The feminist icon and frontwoman of punk band Bikini Kill has found her next act as an author. She presents her new release, Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk in conversation with author and co-founder of the reproductive rights campaign #ShoutYourAbortion Lindy West.
On sale now
NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest
june 9, 7pm | nectar lounge, $18
The Tiny Desk concerts of YouTube lore bring their nationwide tour to Nectar. Artists for the June show include the yet-to-be-announced winner of NPR's annual contest and select local outfits who have appeared on past Tiny Desk episodes—perhaps Among Authors or Sleater-Kinney.
Tasting Notes
july 19, 7:30pm | benaroya hall, $20–525
Music is an art form; food is an art form. What happens when best-in-class musicians partner with renowned chefs? It turns into a chamber music party helmed by James Beard Award-Winner Kenji Lopez-Alt and violinist James Ehnes—complete with nosh and entertainment.
The Chainsmokers: The Party Never Ends
august 10, TBA | Myrtle edwards park, public onsale may 17
The Grammy-award-winning duo brings English DJ Jonas Blue and producer Daniel Allan to Lower Queen Anne's waterfront Myrtle Edwards Park. Last year's iteration of the live music project broke venue attendance records thanks to deep cuts and chart-topping Chainsmokers hits, engaging visuals, and cutting-edge production collabs.
Cigarettes After Sex
september 28, 8pm | climate pledge arena, $44–444
Slow burn pop songs with love right smack dab in the middle? Enter indie trio Cigarettes After Sex, touring in support of their yet-to-be-released third studio album, X.
Aerosmith
november 24, 7pm | climate pledge arena, $110–1,226
"Dream On" singer Steven Tyler—who is 76 years old—will be back on stage following a fractured larynx to finish out the rock band's farewell tour this fall. Forever dynamic performers, the five piece makes even the largest stadiums feel like a raucous club; pre-injury tour reviews promise the band peaces out with loads of rock style.