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Must List: Fourth of July Celebrations, Seattle Street Food Festival, Search Party

Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events

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MUST CELEBRATE

Fourth of July Celebrations
(7/4)
 While half of Seattle will be over at Gas Works Park at the city’s Seafair Summer Fourth event, lower-key celebrations will be taking place just outside the city. Edmonds rolls out an early-morning 5K run/walk followed by a children’s parade, beard and mustache competition, and food vendors. Bainbridge Island is known for its all-day pancake breakfast and the self-proclaimed “Best Small-Town Parade in America,” with stunning homemade floats. Times vary. Free. Locations vary. seafair.com; edmondswa.com; bainbridgeisland.com

MUST CHOW

Seattle Street Food Festival
(7/6-7/7) Expect food trucks, booths, craft pop-ups curated by Urban Craft Uprising and samplings at this massive South Lake Union street food festival, which occupies more than five blocks. Come hungry and enjoy eats and treats from vendors from all over the state. Free admission. Times vary. South Lake Union, 217 Ninth Ave. N; Facebook, “Seattle Street Food Festival 2019“

MUST EXPLORE

2019 Vashon-Maury Island Low Tide Celebration
(7/6)
 This 14th annual celebration explores low tides at Point Robinson Park reaching as low as -2.1 feet by the afternoon. The event features beach walks with naturalists offering details of intertidal geology and wildlife along with tours of the historic Point Robinson lighthouse on Maury Island. Plus, paddleboards and aqua viewers (think underwater telescope) will be available for a heightened, interactive experience for visitors. If you need more convincing, a free shuttlebus will get you around, while Orca Eats food trucks keep you fed. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Free. Vashon Island, 3705 Point Robinson Rd., 206.463.3153; vashonparks.org/events

MUST ROCK OUT

The Vera Project’s Search Party
(7/6)
Mormally shows at The Vera Project are all-ages, but this is a fundraiser, so…yeah, only 21 and older this time, kids. The Darkness, Murder City Devils, Black Pistol Fire and Pink Parts play; KEXP-FM DJ Riz Rollins spins; and 100 percent of your money goes to support the area’s prime youth music- and art-making venue. 2–10 p.m. $35. The Vera Project, Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St.; 206.956.8372

MUST INDULGE

Bon Appétit! The Julia Child Operetta
(7/8, 7/15, 7/22, 7/28)
 Featuring four Seattle-based performers and host Julia Child Prud’homme—Julia Child’s niece— this show, written by Lee Hoiby, is dishing up delightful pairings of songs and slices of chocolate cake on stage. Head down to the historic Jewelbox Theatre where the event will run every Monday in July, serving plenty of quirks and cakes if you’re wanting to go back for seconds. This is a 21 and over event. 8 p.m. $28. Belltown, 2322 Second Ave., 206.441.5823; therendezvous.rocks

Rearview Mirror: Godzilla, Cork, and a New Sushi Spot

Rearview Mirror: Godzilla, Cork, and a New Sushi Spot

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

POPPING OUR SENSES I don’t think I’ve ever given much thought to a wine cork beyond the satisfying pop it makes when opening a bottle, but after spending a morning at DeLille Cellars in Woodinville with about 50 other people, I have a new appreciation for it. The occasion was “(Pop) Open Your Senses,” a…

Best Bookstore: Beguiled Books

Best Bookstore: Beguiled Books

This Pioneer Square darling is easy to spot: pink doors and candy-striped details mark its home near Occidental Square. Beguiled Books started in 2024 as a mobile bookstore, making its way from table to tent to trailer, and finally to its current brick-and-mortar space. Labelling itself as “Seattle’s Original Romance Bookstore,” Beguiled specializes in just…

Best Art Gallery: Foster/White Gallery

Best Art Gallery: Foster/White Gallery

A pillar in Pioneer Square’s arts ecosystem, Foster/White Gallery opened in 1966 (then called Richard White Gallery) as the first space of its kind in the neighborhood. It soon gained notoriety for showing preeminent Northwest artists such as Morris Graves, William Morris, George Tsutakawa, and Dale Chihuly. In the decades after founding the gallery, its…

Best Museum: Seattle Art Museum

Best Museum: Seattle Art Museum

A vote for Seattle Art Museum is really a vote for three different art outings. The downtown museum pairs ambitious exhibitions with a global collection; the Seattle Asian Art Museum occupies SAM’s original 1933 Art Deco home amid the 43 acres of Capitol Hill’s Volunteer Park; and the Olympic Sculpture Park puts art out in…