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Seattle Culture

Set Your Sights on These Summer Festivals

The sun’s out and the fun is about at these events that bring us together

By Ben McBee May 26, 2025

Three women sit by a lakeshore taking a selfie, surrounded by a crowd at an outdoor event with tents—set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound.
Kirkland Uncorked, a celebration of art, food, and wine along the picturesque shores of Lake Washington.
Photo courtesy of Kirkland Uncorded

Summer on the Puget Sound is filled with certainties, like extra daylight for outdoor adventures or telling your friends “oh, I’ve always wanted to go to that” — the week after that happened. This year, it’s time to drop that all too common refrain and check out our favorite summer festivals in Seattle and beyond before the season runs out.

Explore our city’s rich cultural tapestry at Seattle Center Festál, a series of 25 free festivals that run through January, with celebrations including the Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival, Indigenous People Festival, BrasilFest, and Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival occurring in the summer months.

Set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound, where four dancers in traditional attire with feathered headpieces perform on stage against an orange backdrop, raising their arms in unison.
Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival.
Photo by Susan Fried, courtesy of Seattle Center

June kicks off the Emerald City’s flagship event Seafair, a more than monthlong party filled with Fourth of July fireworks, Fleet Week activities, the Blue Angels performing aerial acrobatics, hydroplane races on Lake Washington, and more.

Set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound, where a crowd seated outdoors at dusk watches fireworks burst over the waterfront near a large white building and docked boats.
Seafair Fourth of July celebration at Lake Union Park, with reserved seating for a front-row view of the fireworks.
Photo courtesy of Seafair

If by now you’re feeling hungry, The Taste NW is a must. More than 150 food vendors descend on the fairgrounds in Puyallup, offering a smorgasbord of local cuisine, cook-off battles, and of course, the margarita bar. Only have eyes for the pies? Rhubarb Days in downtown Sumner is a showcase of the surprisingly versatile ruby red stalk (think candles, body care, jam, syrups, lemonade, and even cocktails).

Set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound, where a woman in a red dress and a man with a badge and tray of sample cups smile and hold drinks inside a festive, string-lit event tent.
Craft Beer & Cider Tasting at The Taste Northwest.
Photo courtesy of The Fair

Raise a glass at this year’s Kirkland Uncorked, a gathering where passionate vintners share their wares with fellow wine lovers. It’s also a fundraiser for Motley Zoo Animal Rescue, so cheers to that.

Kilts are not required (but they are high fashion) at the Skagit Valley Highland Games, a convening of everything Celtic. Pile the family in the car and join the fun, which includes sheepdog demonstrations, bagpipe and dance performances, a harp tent and instrument “petting zoo,” and of course athletic competitions.

Set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound, where a pipe band in kilts performs outdoors before a large seated crowd, with the NWJPB bass drum visible in the center.
The Skagit Valley Highland Games.
Photo courtesy of Celtic Arts Foundation

To find art near (or far), visit the Seattle Art Fair or head to the Anacortes Arts Festival — now in its 64th year. Want to broaden your musical horizons and branch out from Bumbershoot? Hop on a ferry and head to Departure Fest NW, which weaves  with Native storytelling in the picturesque setting of Twana Springs.

A musician plays guitar on a stage at night, facing a large crowd. With stage lights shining and audio equipment humming, it's a perfect scene to set your sights on these summer festivals across Puget Sound.
Departure Festival at Twana Springs.
Photo courtesy of Kalan Wolfe and The Shift

And if you’re ultimately just looking for a taxi to a different planet, Burien UFO Festival is the perfect place to explore our region’s extraterrestrial lore.

 

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