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Lion dances are a mainstay at the CID Night Market alongside a host of live performances.
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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
Annual Salmon Derby Dinner
september 25, 6pm | ben paris, $175
Ben Paris, the Pike Place Market restaurant namesake, was known in his day for organizing Seattle’s salmon derbies. With salmon season in full swing, the five course dinner returns with Washington wines and local PNW fare that would make him proud.
Great Pumpkin Beer Festival
october 3–4, 4–10pm | elysian brewing capitol hill, $5–100
Missed Oktoberfest? Never fear, another autumnal alcohol fest is upon us, complete with a real pumpkin keg overflowing with beer, tapped fresh each night. The annual fest stars 60-plus pumpkin-adjacent beers on tap, a fierce costume competition, and a pumpkin pie eating contest.
Come see what’s cooking at the Northwest Chocolate Festival.
Northwest Chocolate Festival
october 4–5, 9am–5pm | MEYDENBAUER CONVENTION CENTER, $35–125
Bellevue’s annual chocolate fest isn’t all about taste-testing artisanal chocolate; workshops get into the weeds with historical presentations, behind the scenes demos on chocolate’s creation from fresh cacao pods to bar, and the stories behind surprising combos like tea and cacao.
Visual Arts
Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular
through september 28, various | frye art museum, free
The sleek, always-free art museum houses sculptor and multimedia artist Hugh Hayden’s first solo museum spot on the West Coast. Filling the galleries are curiously reworked items from everyday American life, like the cherry bark encased Louboutins and a life-sized church nave.
Nina Katchadourian’s installation at the National Nordic Museum displays lost stories.
Nina Katchadourian: Origin Stories
through october 26, various | national nordic museum, $5–20
Fresh art drops at the National Nordic Museum, courtesy of multidisciplinary artist Nina Katchadourian. Her works range from photographs, to video, to an immersive installation surrounding a real-life shipwreck disaster. On June 22, Katchadourian will join a survivor of the shipwreck, Douglas Robertson, in conversation at the gallery.
Light bends; light shapes.
Anila Quayyum Agha: Geometry of Light
through april 19, various | seattle asian art museum
Go ahead, interact with the art in Anila Quayyum Agha’s new exhibition at the Volunteer Park museum, the first solo show from a Pakistani American artist in SAM’s 90-years. Laser-cut steel cubes suspend from the ceiling, lit by a halogen bulb that paints the room—and visitors—with intricate shadows that illuminate the light and dark of life.
Fall Exhibition Opening
october 3, 7–9pm | henry art gallery, free
A bar, music by KEXP DJ Diana Ratsamee, and artist cameos mark the opening of University District Henry Art Gallery’s fall exhibitions. A food-forward mural graces the sculpture court, multi-media works from Kameelah Janan Rasheed span collage to video, and LA-based Rodney McMillian’s abstract sculptures and political videos comprise the new additions.
Live Music
White Denim
september 24, 10pm | sunset tavern, $31.93
The Austin rock band’s early show is sold out, but the late show brings tracks from their twelve studio albums to the Ballard venue’s night owls. Helmed by core members James Petralli and Steve Terebecki, the group shifts like a kaleidoscope to add new sounds and energies.
Princess Nokia and Big Freedia
setpember 27, 6:30pm | Pier 62, $63.81
The Waterfront Park’s Pier 62 hosts rappers Princess Nokia and Big Freedia. With several new singles out this year, Princess Nokia brings fresh tracks alongside Big Freedia’s 2025 album Pressing Onward and bounce music roots.
Tate McRae
october 2–3, 7:30pm | climate pledge arena, $74.30–268
Coming off an electric—and particularly gritty—VMAs performance, pop star Tate McRae brings her Miss Possessive tour to the Climate Pledge Arena. Expect big hits (“greedy” and “Sports car”) and bigger dance numbers.
Performance
The Play That Goes Wrong
through september 28, various | bagley wright theater, $35–135
The show must go on…but should it? A meta physical comedy about a play that—you guessed it—goes all wrong, Seattle Rep’s season opener brings laughs at the expense of the fictional Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society and their problem-riddled show.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
through october 12, various | charlotte martin theater, $25–62
Playful children’s book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom gets a stage adaptation, the mischievous alphabet climbing off the page and into the Seattle Children’s Theater. Nearly one hour of music and interactive storytelling serves as an introduction to theater for even the littlest patrons.
Stand-Up Science: Myth Understandings
october 3, 6–10pm | pacific science center, $30
Highbrow comedy lands in the Seattle Center’s Pacific Science Center, with comedian and podcaster Shane Mauss. He’ll bring a pair of local scientists on stage for a show that’s part stand-up, part science panel—complete with a peer review roast and audience Q&A.
FILM
Local Sightings Film Festival
through september 28, various | northwest film forum, $
Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum curates films—both shorts and features—from local PNW filmmakers. The fest kicks off with a meet-and-greet brunch and closes out this year’s run with a series of shorts alongside a vendor market, trivia, and mingling with cast and crew.
HUMP!
through october 11, various | various, $18–25
Dan Savage’s bi-annual film fest spreads the gospel of sex-positivity with homemade kinky shorts showing at three Seattle venues this fall. Not sure what to expect? He once told us, “Anything comes and goes at HUMP!, literally.”
Quality Ski Time Film Tour
october 6, 7pm | siff cinema uptown, $16
Four short ski films—starring local daredevils on Mount Hood, Cody Townsend’s reckoning with risk, a story of relearning to ski after losing a limb, and requisite general ski stoke—set the tone for the coming season: wax those skis and get ready for snowfall.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Yo-yo performances enthrall alongside lion dances and street vendors.
Chinatown International District Night Market
september 27, 1–9pm | chinatown-international district, free
Three city blocks turn into a street festival in the highly-anticipated 18th rendition of the CID Night Market. Expect great food, stunning performances (lion dances, taiko drumming, even yo-yo), and dozens of local vendors.
MEXAM NW
through october 9, various | various, various
The wide-ranging month-long fest curated by the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle weaves together Hispanic and Mexican-American cultural events in countless forms: art exhibitions, concerts, Spanish language spoken word poetry, and mural painting.
READINGS AND LECTUREs
Our Brains on Art: How the Arts Transform Community Health
september 25, 7pm | the great hall, $10–35
Susan Magsamen, co-author of 2023 nonfiction Your Brain on Art, joins leaders in the creative and health fields to show art’s influence in healing settings. The group will expound art’s potential for everything from reducing the need for pain medication and hospital stay length to increasing memory and cognitive function.
Jodi-Ann Burey with Authentic: The Myth of Bringing Your Full Self to Work
september 30, 7pm | central library, free with registration
Author and critic Jodi-Ann Burey, known for her TED talk “The Myth of Bringing Your Full, Authentic Self to Work,” poured her insights into a book. She joins fellow Seattle author Sonora Jha to chat about reclaiming agency at work in spite of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism.
Lars Mytting: The Night of the Scourge
october 2, 6pm| national nordic museum, $5
Norwegian author Lars Mytting travels to Ballard’s National Nordic Museum to chat alongside editor and translator Elizabeth DeNoma. He’ll dive into the final installment of his epic trilogy, a drama set in WWII Norway that infuses Norwegian folklore and family sagas.
On sale now
The extra ingredient? Giving back and supporting culinary education in Seattle at Farestart. Yum.
Guest Chef Night Series
through november 20, 5–9pm | FareStart Restaurant, $55
Supper Club: We’re Having an Old Friend for Dinner
october 31, 6pm | mopop, $130
