Must TastePike Place Market’s Annual Arcade LightsFriday (4/22, 7 p.m.) Head to Pike Place Market for the annual Arcade Lights Tasting Festival in the North Arcade. Enjoy a night of artisanal foods, beers and Washington wines. Indulge in unlimited snacks and use your five tokens to taste locally crafted drinks. Must SeeTrees in Bloom at…

The trope imposed on people who smoke marijuana has always been that they’re lazy, zoned out and unthinking. It’s a lame and lazy characterization. Want proof? Just look to Seattle rapper, author and admitted smoker, Matt “Spek” Watson, who this week (on 4/20) released the first single, “Uncle Ike” from his anticipated new record, Nine…

Fly Moon Royalty’s new record Delicious Trouble is a musical feast. It’s a delectable collection of songs that’s deep on groove, long on soul, and now has the band poised to gain the attention of a national audience. Stream it now right here. Blending elements of R&B, Hip Hop, Electronica and Pop, DJ Action J…

Columbia City–based writer Lindy West got her start as an arts reporter for The Stranger, and now focuses on topics that include pop culture, social justice and body image for GQ and The Guardian. Her first book, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman (Hachette Books, $26) is released May 17. Why did you decide to…

In 2007, three teenagers had a vision for growing youth-made film in Seattle. Jesse Harris, Jocelyn R.C. and Kyle Seago founded their non-profit, The Talented Youth, and the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY), a showcase for filmmakers age 24 and under. Since its inception, the fest has blossomed into a four-day event that…

Last week, Seattle radio station KEXP 90.3 FM unveiled its new Seattle Center headquarters to the public at the corner of the former 1962 World’s Fair grounds where the remote Northwest Rooms had long been located. On Friday, as I reclined listlessly on one of the very cushy chocolate-brown leather couches in the station’s new…

Must DanceGroove On at the Creole CarnivalThursday (4/14, 8 p.m.) Dance along to exotic and intoxicating world rhythms during the Creole Carnival at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. The lineup includes Haitian songstress Emeline Michel, Brazilian samba combo Casuarina and Jamaican single-string guitarist Brushy One-String. Must PliePNB Presents Coppélia(4/15 to 4/24, times vary) Balanchine’s…

Sync Music Video Festival Remember MTV? Remember when MTV was good? (It used to play music video after music video.) Well, imagine if there was a night where you could sit in a majestic theater with your friends and watch high-quality music videos from all of the local talent in one of the world’s premier…

In January, The New Foundation Seattle announced both the creation of its 100K prize—an award of $100,000 given to a distinguished U.S. woman artist—and its first recipient, New York artist and social activist Martha Rosler. In conjunction with the award, Seattle would be treated to Housing is a Human Right, a year-long series of exhibitions…

The occupation of eastern Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by right-wing extremists is over. Bird watchers are eager to reclaim their right to access this beautiful locale, which hosts rare migrating birds, such as sandhill cranes. Flocks of binoculared birders will descend this spring in a show of support for public ownership, conservation and cooperation….

Seattle Superheroes is a regular series on seattlemag.com wherein artists depict standout people in our community as superheroes. While we’ve taken some artistic license with the narratives, the sentiment behind them is very real.   There’s that adage about art that it has no certain definition, but that you know it when you see it. Well,…

There’s another player in Seattle’s car-sharing market: BMW Group announced today that it’s debuting its ReachNow premium car-sharing service, which includes a fleet of 370 vehicles comprised of the BMW 3 Series, the electric BMW i3 and the MINI Cooper. The program is set to take on the existing Car2Go car-sharing service–which launched in Seattle…

Must SeeShen Yun at McCaw Hall(4/8 to 4/10, times vary) Performing arts company Shen Yun returns to Seattle to tell the tale of heroes, dragons and emperors through dance and acrobatics in a stunning visual and musical production at McCaw Hall. The show, “Lost Paradise,” revives and celebrates 5,000 years of culture that is banned…