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Must List: Boats Afloat Show, Tango Magic Festival, Second Use Fall Fest

Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events.

Fremont Cut, Lake Union Ballard Locks, Salmon Bay, Olympic Mountains Sunset Aerial View - Seattle, Washington State Lakes
Fremont Cut, Lake Union Ballard Locks, Salmon Bay, Olympic Mountains Sunset Aerial View – Seattle, Washington State Lakes

MUST SAIL

Boats Afloat Show
(9/13–9/16) Get your boat fix at the largest floating boat show on the West Coast. More than 225 different types of vessels will be floating on the shores of South Lake Union this weekend. Get out on the water with free sail or powerboat rides or check out what a $7.5 million boat looks like. Plus, there will be boating seminars to help you brush up on your nautical knowledge and kid-friendly activities such as toy boat building. Times and prices vary. Chandler’s Cove, South Lake Union, 901 Fairview Ave. N; boatsafloatshow.com

Photo via iStock

MUST DANCE

Tango Magic Festival
(9/13–9/17) Grab a partner (or just show up solo) and learn the sultry moves of Argentine Tango. Throughout the weekend, the festival is offering classes for all levels of dancers, so don’t worry if this is your first time giving tango a try. Plus, every evening there will be a milonga (or a social dance), where you can practice your newly learned skills and see performances by professional dancers. Some events are 21+. Times and prices vary. China Harbor Restaurant, Westlake, 2040 Westlake Ave. N; seattletangomagic.com

MUST LOVE CHEESE

2018 Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival
(9/15) Hey cheese fiends, this weekend you have the chance to try cheese from more than 20 local cheesemakers, including Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, Mt. Townsend Creamery, Sunny Pine Farm and more. Plus: To complement the cheese, there will be artisan food, along with beer and wine. This is a 21+ event and there are only a few tickets left, so get yours ASAP. 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Prices vary. Seattle Design Center, Georgetown, 5701 6th Ave. S; washingtonartisancheese.com

Photo via Second Use Facebook page

MUST REUSE

Second Use Fall Fest
(9/15) Sodo’s Second Use is celebrating its 24th anniversary in the best way possible, by hosting a huge party and sale. Show up this Saturday for free food, games, beer and a storewide 20 percent off sale. Practice the “reduce and reuse” mantra by bringing an old t-shirt and learn how to screen print or buy upcycled goods at the Handmade & Reclaimed Market, which will host more than 35 local vendors. Free. 12 p.m.–6 p.m. Second Use, Sodo, 3223 Sixth Ave. S; seconduse.com

MUST SEE

Conscious Cartoons International Animation Festival
(9/14–9/16) Spend the weekend watching socially minded animated shorts at this festival on Vashon Island. Each short is no longer than 15 minutes and speak to socially conscious and human themes. More than $20,000 in prizes will be presented in multiple categories throughout the weekend to the best shorts. So far, standout submissions include Half a Life, an account of an Egyptian man who is gay and fears for his life, and Engaging Conservation Leaders, a stop-motion film focused on marine conservation in Puget Sound. Times and prices vary. Vashon Theatre, Vashon Island, 17723 Vashon Hwy. SW; 206.463.3232; consciouscartoons.org

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

Studio Sessions: Ling Chun

The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.

For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever

PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.

Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair.  I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026

Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.

Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…