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Must List: Hot Sauce Fest, Big Day of Play, Mini Maker Faire

Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events.

Red chili pepper
Red chili pepper

MUST ADD HEAT

Hot Sauce Fest  
(8/18) Make your Saturday sizzle at this event, presented by Seattle-based community engagement nonprofit The World Is Fun and local Ballyhoo Hot Sauce Company. Formerly Ballard Burrito Fest, the new event will feature lawn games, films at dusk, food trucks and, of course, hot sauce tastings. Wash down the heat with suds from the beer garden. Proceeds from the day benefit The World Is Fun’s charitable programs. 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Free. Ballard Commons Park, Ballard, 5701 22nd Ave. NW; theworldisfun.org


Photo via chomplocal.org

MUST GREEN UP

CHOMP!
(8/18) Celebrate local farmers, chefs and restaurants; take in some live music; and immerse yourself in workshops and activities that celebrate locally sourced, healthy foods and sustainable lifestyles. A free shuttle from the Redmond Transit Center adds convenience to this family-friendly sustainable-living fair. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Free; parking $5. Marymoor Park, Redmond, 6046 W Lake Sammamish Pkwy. NE; chomplocal.org

MUST GET OUTSIDE

Big Day of Play
(8/18) Seattle Parks and Recreation wants you to get active, literally. The Big Day of Play is an annual event part of Seattle Parks and Recreation’s Get Moving initiative, a push to get Seattleites involved in outdoor activities with their families and communities. Challenge your friends to a game of pickleball, a PNW favorite, bubble soccer, giant bowling and more. Plus, After hours of running around and kicking butt, make sure to stop by a food truck to refuel. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Free. Rainier Community Center and Playfields, Columbia City, 4600 38th Ave. S; bigdayofplay.org


Photo via pikeplacefoundation.org

MUST CELEBRATE FOOD

Sunset Supper at Pike Place Market
(8/17) Eat and drink to your heart’s content while supporting Seattle’s most iconic farmers market. The evening soirée will include food from local favorites including Matt’s in the Market and Pasta Casalinga, drinks from Rachel’s Ginger Beer, Copperworks Distilling, and Pike Brewing just to name a few, and a live band so you can dance the night (and pasta) away. Proceeds benefit The Pike Place Market Foundation. 7:30 p.m. $175. Pike Place Market, downtown, on Pike Place between Virginia St. and Pine St.; pikeplacemarketfoundation.org

MUST CREATE

Mini Maker Faire
(8/18–8/19) Dubbed as “The Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth,” this family-friendly showcase brings together crafters, garage tinkerers, tech enthusiasts and scientists to show off their creations. Learn how to create a podcast from people behind “Hella Black, Hella Seattle,” find out how you can become a 3-D printing inventor, and see the future of fashion at the Fashion + Tech Show. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Prices vary. MoPOP, Seattle Center, 325 Fifth Ave. N; mopop.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…