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The Must List: SoDo Wine Bash, The End’s Summer Camp and a Polo Party

Your guide to Seattle's hottest events.

SLU-Block-Party

MUST PARTY
South Lake Union Block Party
(8/11) Amazon-conquered South Lake Union gets a cultural injection this weekend with a day of community activities, live music and food-truck snacking. Peep performances by Hey Marseilles, Evening Bell, Ayron Jones and the Way, and others or sip local brews in the beer garden before the School of Visual Concepts’ Steamroller Smackdown, in which designers compete to print art with a 5-ton steamroller. 12 p.m.-11 p.m. Free admission, all ages. 101 Westlake Ave N.; slublockparty.com

MUST PEDDLE
Obliteride
(8/11–8/13) Bike to support Fred Hutch’s cancer research at the fifth annual Obliteride. Participants solicit pledges and then choose to ride on one of four routes around the region. Unable to ride? Donate to a rider or team to help them meet their fundraising commitment, become a virtual rider and raise money, or cheer on the riders as they cross the finish line at Gas Works Park. Times and locations vary; obliteride.org

MUST SIP
Pour
(8/12) Party at Factory Luxe in the old Rainier Brewery at this first-ever event from Seattle Urban Wineries, a non-profit association of more than 20 wineries from the Seattle area. All the constituent wineries will be in attendance, serving their creations and introducing their neighborhood operations to a wider audience. With many of these wineries tucked into neighborhoods from Ravenna to Georgetown, it’s a prime opportunity to discover the wine that’s been quietly aging just down the block. 1-5 p.m. $30-$40, 21-plus. The Factory Luxe, 3100 Airport Way S.; seattleurbanwineries.com

MUST GALLOP
The Seattle Polo Party
(8/12) Watch powerful horses galloping at full speed, handled by talented polo players as they lob the ball around the field at the Seattle Polo & Equestrian Club’s social event of the year. Get there early so you can party tailgate style and enjoy the spectacle of spectators who dress to impress. 1 p.m. Prices vary. Enumclaw, Seattle Polo & Equestrian Club, 25901 SE 400th St.; seattlepoloclub.com

MUST LISTEN
107.7 The End’s Summer Camp
(8/12-8/13) For two days of outdoor music in August, mainstream-y alt-rock station The End’s Summer Camp is a solid bet. Headlining this year’s mini fest are Canadian indie-rockers and earwormy Australian Vance Joy, with Bishop Briggs, Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Minus the Bear and many others rounding out the bill. For some behind the scenes fun, grab a ticket to the “Brew-B-Q”—a backstage barbecue lunch with beer flights featuring party king and Summer Camp host Andrew W.K. and The End DJ Manley. Times and ticket prices vary. Marymoor Park, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy NE, Redmond; theendsummercamp.com

 

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…