Arts
Read More ›
Must List: SIFF VR Zone, Volunteer Park Pride Festival, ‘Love and Ballet’
Your weekly guide to Seattle's hottest events.
MUST WATCH
SIFF VR Zone
(through 6/10) Immerse yourself in a movie—literally—at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) VR Zone, a pop-up movie house screening virtual reality (VR) and interactive short films. Experience more than two dozen VR and 360 films, documentaries and games, each ranging from three to 20 minutes. Go up in a hot air balloon, fly through a painting or tag along on a training mission with a NASA astronaut. $25. Times vary. Pacific Place, downtown, 600 Pine St.; siff.net
MUST PLAY
Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show
(6/8–6/10) The 11th annual Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show features more than 400 arcade games from years past and present, as well as homemade games from Seattle locals looking to make their mark on the scene. Join the expected 4,000 attendees in a raffle for special prizes and merchandise, and compete for world-record pinball scores. Times and prices vary. Tacoma Convention Center, Tacoma, 1500 Commerce St.; nwpinballshow.com
MUST CELEBRATE
Volunteer Park Pride Festival
(6/9) This annual celebration officially kicks off Pride month in Seattle. Enjoy this all-ages celebration in one of Seattle’s iconic parks with food trucks, a craft fair, a beer garden and live music featuring Tacocat, Desi Valentine, Little Bandit and more. Local community leaders and organizers will be speaking throughout the event about issues affecting the LGBTQ community. Free. 12–7 p.m. Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill, 1247 15th Ave. E; seattlepride.org
Photo by Angela Sterling
MUST FALL IN LOVE
Pacific Northwest Ballet: Love and Ballet
(through 6/10) In illustration of the title concept, this program spotlights couples in works by Christopher Wheeldon, Benjamin Millepied and Justin Peck, whose Sufjan Stevens–scored Year of the Rabbit premiered in 2012 at the New York City Ballet to raves from The New York Times: “A star is born…I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who wished the whole 30-minute dance could have been encored immediately.” Times and prices vary. McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 321 Mercer St.; 206.733.9725; pnb.org
MUST PEDAL
Lake to Lake Bike Ride
(6/9) Cyclists of all ages and skill levels are invited to join this scenic ride along Bellevue’s bike trails system. To benefit that city’s youth camp scholarship fund, participants can take the mostly flat 9-mile Greenbelt Loop, or the more challenging 22-mile Lake Loop (covering the geographic area between lakes Washington and Sammamish) with plenty of elevation change. Prices vary. 9 a.m. Start at Lake Hills Community Park, Bellevue, 1200 165th Ave. SE; 425.452.4882; parks.bellevuewa.gov
Follow Us
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
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
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
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…