The Must List: MLK Day of Service, Leavenworth Bavarian IceFest, Nordic Lights Film Fest
What to do in Seattle in the days ahead
By Seattle Magazine Staff January 12, 2017
Must Send in the Clowns
Judy Collins
(1/12-15, 7:30 p.m.) Seattle’s Grammy- and Oscar-nominated activist, author, filmmaker and singer/songwriter, Collins is a Renaissance woman. Also, she’s the only reason anyone ever heard of Leonard Cohen. $55. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., jazzalley.com
Must Chill
Leavenworth Bavarian IceFest
(1/14–15, all day) Where can you find the Great Frisbee Sweep, Ice Cube Scramble, Bavarian Mug Relay, Snowmobile Sled Pull (starring your dog) and the Smooshing Contest, where teams of four strap their eight feet onto 10-foot longboards and race through the glittering snow? Only at IceFest. $1–$5. Leavenworth, Front Street Park; leavenworth.org
Must Watch
Nordic Lights Film Festival
(1/14-17, times vary) See three submissions for the Foreign Language Oscar; films from Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden; and 2015 Golden Globe nominee The Fencer, about a Cold War hero, by Finnish four-time Oscar contender Klaus Härö, who was given the Ingmar Bergman Award by Bergman himself. SIFF Film Center, Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., siff.net
Must Volunteer
MLK Day of Service
(1/16, all day) Why not spend Martin Luther King Jr. Day the way he spent his days: doing something good for America? Volunteer for United Way’s MLK Day of Service. Start the day at a rally on the University of Washington’s Seattle campus, then gather a team, pick a project online and live the dream. Free. University of Washington and various locations; uwkc.org/events/mlk-day-of-service
Must Listen
SAL Presents: Local Voices
(1/18, 7:30 p.m.) In a sumptuous room with a fireplace, Seattle Arts and Lectures (SAL) hosts Local Voices, during which SAL Writers in the Schools read works in progress. One of the readers, Aaron Counts, who is the lead engagement artist for 4Culture’s Creative Justice pilot program, has great stories to tell. Free. Capitol Hill, Sorrento Hotel, Fireside Room, 900 Madison St.; lectures.org
Follow Us
Little Ways to December in Seattle
A few (mostly) local things worth picking up, wandering through, or falling into as the year wraps.
December always sneaks up on me even though every year I convince myself I’m going to be organized (I’m not). So I’ve been collecting these simple outings and local spots that feel like unwrapped gifts. If you’re looking for a way to escape or lean in, here are some recommendations. A sip of history You…
Back to Gander
Seattle Rep revisits its original world premiere with a new staging that pulls you straight into the heart of the story.
When you walk into the theater, the cast is already onstage in what looks like a Gander high school gym—setting out dishes for a potluck, chatting, and then cleaning up. It feels like you’ve arrived in the middle of a reunion, which is the point. This run marks 10 years since Come From Away first…
Seattle’s Big Holiday Arts Guide
A full lineup of seasonal performances across local theaters and venues.
In the words of William Shakespeare, “All’s well that ends well.” Local theater and arts organizations are hoping for exactly that. Holiday productions often account for as much as half of their annual ticket sales. A 2018 Dance/USA survey found that The Nutcracker alone represented 48% of yearly revenue for many companies producing the Tchaikovsky…
Outside the Frame
In their first solo museum exhibition in Seattle, artist Camille Trautman uses photography to reclaim history, narrative, and self-expression.
You have probably seen Camille Trautman’s work without even realizing it. A huge photograph—20 feet wide—is currently hanging across the exterior of the Frye Art Museum, visible to passersby driving along Boren Avenue. The image is of a wooded landscape in black and white. Its edges are vacuous, with trees swallowed by darkness, but the…