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Must List: Seafair, Art Fair, Seattle Night Out

Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events

Seattle, USA - August 5, 2016: The Elite US Navy Blue Angels flying over the Seafair log boom during the airshow over Lake Union mid-day.
Seattle, USA – August 5, 2016: The Elite US Navy Blue Angels flying over the Seafair log boom during the airshow over Lake Union mid-day.

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MUST CELEBRATE
Seafair Celebrations
(8/3–8/5) Seafair hits its peak this weekend with celebrations galore. This traditional celebration includes hydroplane races and watching (and hearing) the Blue Angels roar through the sky. Want to see more than just planes? Then head over to Umoja Fest, a festival that is the oldest and largest celebration of the black community and African Diaspora culture in the Pacific Northwest. The festival brings the “soul to Seafair” with a parade, live music, food, a marketplace and much more. Times, prices and locations vary. Seafair.com; umojafamilyfest.com

Ceramics created with a 30D printer by Seattle artist Timea Tihanyi, available at ArtFair. Photo by Hayley Young.

MUST BUY ART
Seattle Art Fair
(8/2–8/5) Get ready for the biggest weekend of art in Seattle. The annual Seattle Art Fair at CenturyLink Field is showcasing the best of the Pacific Northwest arts community. See performances, installations and work from world renown artists such as Wayne White, Jacob Lawrence and Chris Burden and locals, including Amanda Manitach, C. Davida Ingram and many others. Plus, hundreds of local and national galleries will be attending, exhibiting works as well. Times and prices vary. CenturyLink Field Event Center. SoDo, 800 Occidental Ave. S; seattleartfair.com

Seattle.gov

MUST GATHER
Seattle Night Out
(8/7) Say hello to your neighbors this Tuesday at the annual Seattle Night Out. The national event is put on by Seattle Police Department (SPD). Neighbors get together, close down parts of their residential streets and through block parties, helping bring community together. Currently, there are more than 100 little shindigs registered in Seattle (see image above). Don’t see one around your neighborhood? You can plan your own by registering on SPD’s website. Free. 6 p.m. Locations vary. seattle.gov

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MUST WATCH
The Two Kids That Blow Shit Up
(Through 8/5) Midnight Rice Productions presents its inaugural performance, the Seattle premiere of a funny, heartbreaking two-person show about unlikely friendship, love and dysfunctional family. Bonus: air-conditioned theater. $20. Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday at 2 p.m. Chinatown-International District, 409 Seventh Ave. S; 206.340.1049; theatreoffjackson.org

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MUST BARK
Corgi Races
(8/5) It’s the second annual racing of the corgis at Emerald Downs and more than 70 (!!!) corgis will be there, racing in six qualifying heats before the championship race. There will be a parade of corgis before the first race, so get ready for some cute photo ops. The corgi races will be happening throughout the day, in between horse races. Plus, don’t miss your chance to meet (and pet) some adoptable cuties from Auburn Valley Humane Society. Prices vary. First race starts at 2 p.m. Emerald Downs. Auburn, 2300 Ron Crockett Dr.; emeralddowns.com

 

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 

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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

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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…