Seattle Events This Weekend and Through the Year

Late fall and winter

• WildLanterns, Woodland Park Zoo: stroll past custom illuminated lantern displays on winter evenings at the zoo on Phinney Ridge. It usually runs from mid-November into mid-January, with some closed nights, so book an evening ahead. See our Woodland Park Zoo guide.
• Seattle International Auto Show: browse new models, including electric vehicles, at the Lumen Field Event Center in SoDo. The show, presented by the Washington State Auto Dealers Association, typically takes over a weekend in mid-November.
• Gobble Up Seattle: Urban Craft Uprising's food-focused show, first held in November 2017, brings local food makers together the weekend before Thanksgiving. The organizer's shows make their home at Magnuson Park; check the event page for this year's venue.
• Seattle Hmong New Year and Diwali at Seattle Center: two of the free Festál cultural festivals that close out the series in November.
• Seattle Christmas Market: see our Christmas Market guide for the holiday market's location and tickets.
• New Year's Eve at the Space Needle: the tower hosts a midnight fireworks show each year, watched from the Seattle Center grounds; read more on our Space Needle page.
• Tet in Seattle: the Vietnamese Lunar New Year festival opens the Festál season at Seattle Center in February.

Spring

• Irish Festival Seattle and Seattle's French Fest: March brings both to Seattle Center as part of Festál.
• Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival: usually in April at Seattle Center, one of the free Festál weekends.
• Northwest Folklife Festival: held at Seattle Center over Memorial Day weekend in late May.
• Seattle International Film Festival: SIFF screens films at its cinemas and venues around the city for about 11 days in May.
• University District Street Fair: a May tradition in the U District; see our street fair guide.

Summer

• Fremont Solstice Parade: June's colorful parade in Fremont; see our parade guide.
• Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival and the Indigenous People Festival: June Festál weekends at Seattle Center.
• Capitol Hill Block Party, Ballard SeafoodFest and West Seattle Summer Fest: July's neighborhood music and food weekends; read our guides to the Block Party, SeafoodFest and Summer Fest.
• Seafair: a summer-long series of festivals, parades and races that runs from a June kickoff to the Torchlight Parade along the waterfront in late July and Seafair Weekend in early August, when the Blue Angels air show and hydroplane races take over Lake Washington. See our Blue Angels viewing guide.
• August at Seattle Center: Tibet Fest, BrasilFest and the Festival Sundiata Black Arts Fest are among the free Festál weekends.
• Green Lake Lantern Festival: see our lantern festival guide for its story and timing.

Early fall

• Bumbershoot: Seattle's arts and music festival fills the Seattle Center campus over Labor Day weekend.
• September and October Festál weekends: the Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival, Sea Mar Fiestas Patrias, The Italian Festival, CroatiaFest, Turkfest and the Día de Muertos Festival, which usually spans the last days of October into early November.
• Game days at Lumen Field: the Seahawks play NFL games in the fall, and Seattle Reign FC plays National Women's Soccer League matches at the same stadium.

Monthly and year-round favorites

Pioneer Square Art Walk

Plan a first Thursday evening around the galleries of Seattle's oldest neighborhood with our Pioneer Square Art Walk guide. The same day, several museums open free, which our free museums guide rounds up.

Pike Place Market and the farmers markets

Stroll Pike Place Market, which is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas, and fill weekend mornings at the neighborhood markets in our weekend farmers markets guide, several of which run year round.

Guided history walks

Join a HistoryLink tour to explore Pike Place Market's architecture or its eateries, or set out through Volunteer Park, Belltown and the Chinatown-International District. A walk like this adds context to places you might otherwise just pass through.

Build your trip around one big date

Start with one dated event, such as a concert at Climate Pledge Arena or a game at Lumen Field, then fill your remaining days with the things that are always on. When the Reign and the Seahawks play on back-to-back days, you can catch both games in a single trip, so compare the two schedules in the fall. On a rainy afternoon, duck into one of the Seattle museums or browse our rainy-day ideas.

For organizers

Submit public arts and cultural events in King County to the city's arts and culture calendar for free. Send details at least three weeks ahead, along with a short description of around 40 to 50 words. Listings usually appear about three weeks after submission, and inclusion is not guaranteed.