If the cost of your Thanksgiving turkey has left you strapped for cash, don't worry—below, find all of your options for last-minute entertainment that won't cost more than $10, ranging from the Macy's Holiday Parade to the Georgetown Trailer Park Mall Holiday Market, and from State Park Free Days to Lisa Prank. For even more options, check out our complete EverOut Things To Do calendar and our lists of cheap & easy things to do in Seattle all year long, places to shop local for the holidays, and places to find booze bargains and special releases on Black Friday weekend.
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- Seattle's Best Comedy Thanksgiving Show
Local comics Bo Johnson, Devin Field, and Mary Lou Gamba will return home for Thanksgiving to relieve some of your pre-Turkey Day jitters.
(Pioneer Square, $10) FOOD & DRINK
- Free Grilled Cheese Night!
Seattle Baking will provide free melty-cheesy sandwiches for one evening only.
(West Seattle, free) - Turn Up for Turkey at the Nest
Enjoy Thanksgiving-themed cocktails, views of the city, and a live DJ before Turkey Day commences.Â
(Downtown, free) MUSIC
- Evening Jazz: Leif Totusek and Phil Sparks
Local jazz pros Leif Totusek and Phil Sparks will combine their powers.
(Wallingford, free) - Hi Crime, Guests
Seattle's sparkly-bright indie-pop band Hi Crime will head up a hump day show with additional as-yet-unannounced guests.
(Belltown, $5) - Nancy Erickson
Seattle jazz singer Nancy Erickson and her rich, melodic vocals will grace the Triple Door.
(Downtown, free) - Pampa, Double or Muffin, Juicy Thompson and the Snuggle Regime
Seattle-based Pampa craft a mix of down-tempo guitar pop, dusty 1970s-vintage-tinged indie folk rock, and neo psychedelia dosed heavily with Latino influences, all of it finished with a layer of gray PNW moodiness. Buenos Aires native singer-songwriter-guitarist Moon Baillie helms the quartet, and his bilingual lyrics are often abstract and delivered in poetic streams-of-consciousness, reflecting on the sun, moon, sky, sand, the idea of home, open land and wilderness versus city, love and life and the passage of time… This is a release party celebrating sophomore full-length La Contumacia (“The contumacy,” meaning “a stubborn refusal to obey or comply with authority”), and the album ranges from the bouncy yet haunted set opener “When the Dawn Is Gone,” to the darkly urgent Crazy Horse–vibing rock of “Maniobrando (Con La Llama),” to the expansive, windswept luster of “So Far (Yes, So Far),” which features guest vocals by the Black Tones’ Eva Walker.LEILANI POLK
(Ballard, $10) - Shuffle & Repeat | A Throwback 90's & 00's Dance Party
Ray and Jay, hosts of the local podcast He Said He Said, will put on a night of throwbacks by women hitmakers from the '90s and early aughts—Missy Elliott, Brandy, and Foxy Brown to name a few.
(Capitol Hill, $5-$10) - Thanksgiving Eve: Beeba, Lourawk, Semaj
Work up an appetite with DJs Beeba, Lourawk, and Semaj.Â
(Capitol Hill, $7) PERFORMANCE
- 3rd Annual Trampsgiving
Sleaze up your holiday with a night of music and dancing with Ron and Caela Bailey, Cathy Sutherland, and other locals.
(Ballard, free) READINGS & TALKS
- Jeff Smoot
Smoot will read from his memoir about challenging the "rules" and traditions of rock-climbing.Â
(Wallingford, free)WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
VISUAL ART
Note: Galleries may be closed on Thurs Nov 28 for Thanksgiving.
- Sue Madill: Miles To Go
Local artist Sue Madill shows still lifes and natural scenes.Â
(Downtown, free)
Closing FridayWEDNESDAY-SATURDAY
VISUAL ART
Note: Galleries may be closed on Thurs Nov 28 for Thanksgiving.
- Altered States
This group exhibition invites you on a visual trip to the Earth's stranger landscapes, in the course of transformation by human activity.
(Hillman City, free)
Closing Saturday - Amanda Hood: Reverie
Hood populates her canvases with "constellations of light and organic forms" in a quest to capture the sublime.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Artist Showcase Featuring Queer + Trans Artists
Discover work curated by the Lavender Rights Project.
(Hillman City, free)
Closing Saturday - Can Do Attitude
Statix continues its run of encouraging the use of unusual forms and surfaces with this exhibition of painted spraypaint cans by Casey Weldon, Ten Hundred, Leo Shallat, Husk, and other artists.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Carol Young Bagshaw: Reflection
See work by the late Northwest Coast Haida carver Carol Young Bagshaw in this posthumous show.
(Downtown, free)
Closing Saturday - Charles Emerson: Everything Changes, Every Thing Dreams
If you look hard enough at Charles Emerson's colorful, abstract paintings, you might see part of a landscape—a few trees, the top of a mountain range. But mostly, they make the viewer feel unrooted and upside-down, not surprising for an artist concerned with "life force" that makes "everything in change and flux."
(Downtown, free)
Closing Saturday - Cynthia Hibbard: Remainders
Hibbard starts these paintings, etchings, and monotypes with "some residue of ideas, images or materials from the past," then expands upon these old themes.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - David Hytone: The Armchair Librettist
David Hytone has worked in paint, ink, paper, ceramics, and large-scale collage. His latest paintings on okawara Japanese paper blur the lines between geometric abstraction and the macroorganism.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Dodi Fredericks: Ground Work
Fredericks's experience as a potter and landscape architect informs her style of abstract and landscape painting.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Jeffry Mitchell In Residence
PDX Contemporary Art teams up with Oxbow to bring you Mitchell's ceramics, furniture, and metalwork made in residencies in the U.S. and China.
(Georgetown, free)
Closing Saturday - Joseph Maruska: Tranquil Passage
Joseph Maruska’s paintings, with earthy and ethereal colors, evoke atmospheres and hazy, watery landscapes.
(Downtown, free)
Closing Saturday - Joshua Monuteaux
Monuteaux's highly textured art incorporates materials that would normally "end up in the recycling bin."
(Downtown, free)
Closing Saturday - June Sekiguchi: The Pulse of Water
Sekiguchi's elaborate scroll-cut wood sculptures, inspired by Laos and the Mekong River, filter the light into beautiful patterns. Says the artist: "We humans are a product of our stories that are unseen, but make us who we are. You may detect a hint on the surface, but underneath is where our stories are submerged."
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Katherine Loveland: Down the Rabbit Hole
Loveland employs "macrophotographic collage" to piece together her own Rorschach tests.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Kevin Marshall: May You Be Happy
Discover Marshall's functional ceramic cups, cell phone stands, and more, each inscribed with "a blessing from the artist" in Tibetan Phagspa script.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Lauren Iida: 100 Aspects of the Moon
Lauren Iida's paper collage exhibition features 100 hand-cut works inspired by Japanese woodblock artist Yoshitoshi's 1890s series of the same name. The pieces are also inspired by the artist's home in Cambodia and her Japanese American family's vintage photo archive.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Paula Stokes: 1845: Memento Mori
Stokes memorializes the millions of people dead and displaced during the Irish potato famine with 1,845 glass potatoes arranged in a cairn formation.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - R. Thies: Trippy DOOD
R. Thies's acrylic paintings and canvas and wood explore "no-nonsense subject matter that ranges from fingers to wieners."
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Rolph Scarlett: A Survey of Original Paintings and Work on Paper, 1930-1960
The late Canadian American painter Rolph Scarlett was at one time "the third most highly collected artist" of the Guggenheim collection; he was one of the founders of Solomon R. Guggenheim's first museum (called Museum of Non-Objective Painting), according to gallery materials. But when Guggenheim died in 1949, his family put most of Scarlett's work into storage. Now you have a chance to see 35 of his pieces from the 1930s to the 1960s.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Thomas Stream: In Winter
Geometrically patterned winter birds wearing Aleutian hunting hats stand proud in Alaskan Aleut painter Stream's new series.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - A Touch Of Light: Incarcerated Veteran Artists
Seattle-based arts organization A Touch of Light curates the artwork of prisoners from around the country and the world, in an effort to promote social change and give prisoners a second chance.
(Seattle Center, free)
Closing SaturdayTHURSDAY
FOOD & DRINK
- The 5 Point's Thanksgiving Dinner
The legendary 24-hour dive bar will be serving up a traditional Thanksgiving menu and drink specials (including $5 Wild Turkey shots) in addition to their usual menu, with a choice of deep-fried turkey, honey-baked ham, or hazelnut field roast for the main dish.
(Belltown, drinks start at $5) - 9 Lb. Hammer Thanksgiving
Beloved Georgetown hangout the 9 Lb. Hammer will host a potluck. Bring a dish to share and down a couple drinks.
(Georgetown, no cover) - Lost Lake Thanksgiving
Slide into one of Lost Lake's diner booths and tuck into a classic supper of cider-brined turkey or honey-glazed ham (each with golden garlic mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, herb stuffing, and a roll). There's also vegan and vegetarian options, a saucy three-cheese lasagna, sides, desserts (including pies and a pumpkin milkshake), and a holiday version of the regular menu.
(Capitol Hill, menu items start at $3)FRIDAY
COMMUNITY
- Black Friday Neighborhood Cleanup
If the holidays put you in a magnanimous mood, grab some rakes and bags and help clean the streets, then enjoy $2 off beers at Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery as a reward.
(Greenwood, free) - Black Lives on the Frontline
Youth-led groups Fridays for Future Seattle and Garfield High School’s Black Student Union will lead conversations with (adult) experts on issues related to climate justice.
(First Hill, free) - State Park Free Days
If you don't have a Discover Pass but you still want to take in Northwest wildlife in all its evergreen-hued glory, take advantage of free admission to state parks on special days throughout the year.
(Various locations, free) FILM
- Think Thank Winter Social
Be among the first to watch the snowboarding documentary Suzy Greenberg 270 in the company of pro boarders Scott Stevens, Brandon Reis, Jesse Wright Burtner, and Chris Beresford. You might even come away with raffle prizes like a new pro-model snowboard or a season pass to Snoqualmie Pass.
(Ballard, free) FOOD & DRINK
- 6th Annual Sierra Nevada Celebration Firkin Tapping
Want to keep the holiday merriment going after Thanksgiving? Watershed will tap a fresh firkin of Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop IPA.
(North Seattle, free) - AFTER DARK Vol. 7
Snack on small bites from chef Tarik Abdullah and drinks from Damon Bomar of Brown Liquor Cocktail Co., and whirl on the dance floor to DJ tunes.
(Beacon Hill, $3) - First Annual Beer Hall Beard & Mustache Competition
Flaunt your facial hair (or admire the many beards and 'staches on display if you have none of your own) at this competition. Winners will receive a $100 gift card to Skål Beer Hall and be immortalized forever in Skål's Valhalla hall of fame.
(Ballard, free) MUSIC
- Automotive Steamhorse, Meat Hair, Guests
Northwest indie alt-rockers Automotive Steamhorse stack shoegaze traditions for their own development of experimental post-punk and neo-psychedelic stylings. They'll be joined by experimental noise trio Meat Hair.Â
(Ballard, $10) - A Black Friday Dance Party with the Moonspinners
The Moonspinners will play rock, soul, "French and Italian pop," and '70s-inspired jazz-punk.
(West Seattle, $7) - Citrus Room: JR Jarris & PRVDNT
DJs JR Jarris and PRVDNT will get your weekend started with additional support from G-Lo, Kenny Bounce, Dizz, and Han.Â
(Capitol Hill, $10) - Groggy Bikini, TrueGrit, Wonky
New wave punks Groggy Bikini will bring their Devo-inspired bops to town with support from TrueGrit and Wonky.Â
(Tukwila, $7) - SLAY: Hip Hop Dance Party for LGBTQ & POC
This dance party is geared toward LGBTQ+ people of color, featuring two live DJs, a photo booth, and more.
(Capitol Hill, $5) PARTIES
- Black Friday Plaid Party
Come dressed in your most festive tartans and flannels and receive $1 off your drink at White Center's lumberjack-themed LGBTQ bar.
(White Center, free) PERFORMANCE
- NOIR: Black Friday
QTPOC performers will show off their talents. Give it up for birthday girl Londyn Bradshaw, Issa Man, LĂĽChi, Skarlet Dior Black, and others.
(Downtown, $9) SHOPPING
- Record Store Day Black Friday
Support the indie, folk-focused record label Light in the Attic by stopping by on Black Friday to shop for exclusive titles, snag CDs and box sets for half-off, and get a copy of The Flannel Years signed by Karen-Mason Blair
(Seattle Center, free) SPORTS & RECREATION
- Apple Cup
The UW Huskies will take on the WSU Cougars in the 112th Apple Cup. WINTER HOLIDAYS
- Black Friday Holiday Festival
Families can enjoy reindeer visits, a photo with princesses in a skating rink, and live holiday music by the Side Project for one day only.
(Redmond, free) - Downtown Holiday Tree-Lighting and Macys Star-Lighting Celebration
Despite Macy's new ownership under Amazon and Starwood Property Trust, their gigantic holiday star (and fireworks display, weather permitting) will light up again this year after the Macy's Holiday Parade. In Westlake Park, where you'll likely be watching the show, there will also be a tree lighting and the reintroduction of the holiday carousel. If you love holiday traditions and don't mind crowds, downtown is the place to be the day after Thanksgiving.
(Downtown, free) - Macy's Holiday Parade
In this festive procession of holiday cheer, bunches of floats, costumed characters, sports teams, and others march the Christmas-light-adorned streets of downtown for the Macy's Holiday Parade.
(Downtown, free) VISUAL ART
- Free Admission Black Friday
Instead of storming the sliding glass doors of your local immersion blender purveyor the day after Thanksgiving, take advantage of free admission to the Bellevue Arts Museum to check out current exhibitions like Robert Williams: The Father of Exponential Imagination. To satisfy your holiday shopping fix, there will be a Small Business Saturday pop-up market.Â
(Bellevue, free)FRIDAY-SATURDAY
COMEDY
- Laughsgiving
Local and visiting comics will keep the stage occupied all night long with back-to-back sets.
(Capitol Hill, $5/$10) VISUAL ART
- Ancestral Journeyz of Coastal Voices
Multidisciplinary artists from various tribes—including Quileute, Quinault, Lummi, Tulalip, Makah, Skokomish, Kalispel, Muckleshoot, and Duwamish—juxtapose 1989's Coastal Canoe Journey Roadway (an annual celebration that recognizes the cultural importance of canoe travel to indigenous people) with 2019's through photographs, stained glass, weaving, paddles, regalia, and other art forms.
(Pioneer Square, free)
Closing Saturday - Jueqian Fang and Hongzhe Liang: Vanity Show: Perhaps...
Jueqian Fang and Hongzhe Liang examine the social, personal, and cultural ramifications of the "dreaded experience of luxury handbag shopping for family and friends in China who crave for status items," focusing on the role of newly rich Chinese women, their effect on consumerism, and their lack of immunity from colonial and communist history.Â
(Mount Baker, free)
Opening FridayFRIDAY-SUNDAY
SHOPPING
- Annual Holiday Native Gift Fair & Art Market
Find gifts for loved ones by local Native artists and makers at this annual market.
(West Seattle, free) - Holiday Craft Market
A trip downtown during the holidays beckons a visit to Urban Craft Uprising's annual market, where you'll find all sorts of handmade gifts throughout the season.
(Downtown, free) WINTER HOLIDAYS
- Family Fun Weekend at Molbak's
Molbak's will be decked out with an illuminated National Park-themed indoor forest, an ice rink, designer holiday trees, and a 14-foot Poinsettia tree. They'll also offer Danish kringles if you're in need of a snack.
(Woodinville, free) - Seattle Festival of Trees
The historic Fairmont Olympic hotel celebrates the winter season each year with caroling, an impressive display of decorated trees in their lobby, and a teddy bear suite.
(Downtown, free) - Sheraton Grand Seattle Gingerbread Village
For the 27th year in a row, diabetes research center JDRF Northwest has invited local architecture firms to use their skills for a holiday tradition: crafting an elaborate gingerbread village that uses 1,850 pounds of gingerbread, 150,000 pieces of candy, 350 pounds of fondant, and 15 gallons of egg whites, according to press materials. This year's theme is #ElfLife, featuring pixies, gnomes, and pucks from across genres.
(Downtown, free) - Snowflake Lane
Every year, downtown Bellevue turns into a winter wonderland not just for one night but for a whole dang month, with (fake) falling snow, jolly live music, and a nightly parade filled with dancers and toy drummers. On opening night, stop by Bellevue Place to see a tree lighting and meet Santa.
(Bellevue, free) - Winterfest
From a winter train village to an ice rink, and from music and dance performances to ice sculpting, Winterfest promises five weeks of free festive cheer for all ages.
(Seattle Center, free) VISUAL ART
- Washington Love and Rockets
Cleopatra Cutler shows paintings of some of her favorite rocket launches and landings in Outer Planet's inaugural art show.
(Capitol Hill, free)
Closing SundaySATURDAY
COMEDY
- Fancy Cafeteria
Fond of both the "glamour of a Broadway production" and "the dishevelment of improv"? This improvised musical, based on audience suggestions, will be just for you.
(Ballard, $10) - NW Peaks Stand-Up Comedy Night
Enjoy "comedy club-level comedy" by headliner Todd Kirkwood, featured comic Dewa Dorje, and special guests Courtney Byrd and Ashley Gutermuth.
(Hillman City, $5–$10) FOOD & DRINK
- Holiday Happy Hour Food Walk
Taste special holiday food and drink offerings around Chinatown at this winter edition of the Happy Hour Food Walk.
(Chinatown-International District, $3) MUSIC
- Autumn Sadness - A Goth Dance Party!
Why be a sad goth in your own home when you can dance to darkwave with like-minded ghouls? DJ Hana Solo will spin the good stuff to exacerbate the autumnal gloom on which you thrive.
(Capitol Hill, $5/$10) - The Best You've Ever Seen: Beyond The Black Rainbow
This mash-up event brings together one band and one DJ to collaboratively reimagine a score for whatever movie they've chosen to screen that night. This time, DJ Lite Privilege and Purr Gato will create a mix for Panos Cosmatos's 2010 sci-fi Beyond the Black Rainbow, about a heavily sedated woman who tries to escape a commune where she's being held against her will (yikes). The film is visually remixed by blazinspace with liquid light art from the Liquid Light Wizard.
(West Seattle, $10) - Devin Sinha, Bryan Daisley, The Mrs. Bill Larsens
Singer-songwriter Devin Sinha will headline a mellow show at Tim's with support from Shoreline country crooner Bryan Daisley and the Mrs. Bill Larsens.Â
(Greenwood, $7) - Free at The Frye: Paul Grove
In this free and all-ages ongoing series at the Frye, Paul Grove will showcase his history of performing as a featured soloist with the Spokane Symphony, the Coeur d'Alene Symphony, the Gonzaga Symphony, the Northwest Bach Festival, the Northwest Sacred Music Chorale, and many other regional ensembles.
(First Hill, free) - HotRod Red
Join neo-rockabilly jammers HotRod Red as they grime up some country rock.Â
(Beacon Hill, free) - Lisa Prank, Rose Melberg
Underneath the crunchy, lo-fi pop-punk exterior of the music by Robin Edwards’s Lisa Prank is a soft and earnest unspooling of the dynamics of love, relationships, and heartbreak. In her latest release, Perfect Love Song, Edwards plays with the idea of perfection and how our expectations surrounding love don’t always add up to pure bliss, often in a humorous way. Like in “IUD,” she reflects on how she’ll continue to have an IUD longer than the actual relationship she got it during. We’ve all been there. Lisa Prank will be joined by Vancouver-based singer-songwriter twee icon Rose Melberg. JASMYNE KEIMIG
(Ballard, $10) - Paul Simon Tribute - One Trick Pony
Wear your favorite autumnal scarf and sing along to your favorite Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon solo songs with local tribute band One Trick Pony.
(Tukwila, free) - Planet Fly
Swing your hips loosely with Planet Fly's unhurried, nostalgic funk, featuring the self-assured vocals of KJ Jones.
(Downtown, free) - QDA: Queer Disco Affair ft Bronquito, Jenn Green, T. Wan
DJs Bronquito, Jenn Green, and T. Wan will throw down on the decks with their best disco jams at this queer dance party.Â
(Downtown, $10) - R.C.K., Javelin, Brother Wife
Writhe around to rock and proto-punk with local bands R.C.K., Javelin, and Brother Wife.Â
(Belltown, $8) - Show Me The Body, Urochrome, Gag
Hardcore punks Show Me the Body (progenitors of the "new New York underground," according to Fader) will come to Seattle ready to fight. They'll be joined by East Coast experimental band Urochrome and Seattle's Gag.
(Eastlake, $10) - Zoolab, Whitney Lyman, Leash, Jimi Jaxon
Zoolab (Seattle producer Terence Ankeny) is part of Seattle's recent wave of young producers working in the hazy realm where hiphop entwines with nightbus, that vaporous, downcast strain of bass music birthed from Burial's fertile imagination. Zoolab's music makes you nod your head while befogging it with gray clouds of synth, although ebullient rays sometimes shoot through the mist. DAVE SEGAL
(Capitol Hill, $8/$10) PERFORMANCE
- Naughty or Nice Burlesque
Celebrate the good and naughty aspects of the season in a video-mapped "virtual winter wonderland."
(Downtown, free) READINGS & TALKS
- Lucas P. Kok: Taima the Seahawk
Taima the seahawk watches over the Emerald City from his perch at the top of the Space Needle, swooping down occasionally to save creatures in need. When he discovers that he shares a name with Seattle's pro football team, he takes it upon himself to help them out of their losing streak. Join the author for a reading and signing.
(North Seattle, free) - Poetry for Lost Species
Poets Melinda Mueller, Knox Gardner, Laura Da', Emily Johnston, April DeNonno, and others will share work that honors the myriad lost and endangered species in the Northwest and beyond (shoutout to Puget Sound Resident Orcas).
(Wallingford, free) RESISTANCE & SOLIDARITY
- Another World is Possible! WTO+20 and the Justice Movements of Today
Twenty years after the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, local social justice leaders ("from Washington farmworkers to global alliances") will reflect on what the event has taught us about community organizing. Â
(First Hill, free) SHOPPING
- Anya Davidson, Lane Milburn, & Max Clotfelter
For Small Business Saturday, the comix publisher Fantagraphics will be hosting Anya Davidson, who's in town for the premiere of a film she contributed to, Wallflower. Davidson will attend and sign copies of her graphic novel Band for Life, while her husband, Lane Milburn, and fellow adept of grotesquerie/birthday boy Max Clotfelder will also be hawking their works. Get holiday presents for the comix weirdo in your life!
(Georgetown, free) - Artisan Market
Shop jewelry, art, handmade cards, and other unique gifts from local artisans like Meow Face, Marlow Harris, and Stephanie Benson while you nosh on food and drink specials.
(University District, free) - Georgetown Trailer Park Mall Holiday Market
Find unique gifts from dozens of vendors—including Nomadia Creatives, Royal Mansion Gallery, and Low Rider Baking—and enjoy holiday activities like pictures with Mrs. Klaws and her Santa Bear, holiday music, and lots and lots of cookies.
(Georgetown, free) - Indies First on Small Business Saturday
Support the indie bookstore Queen Anne Book Company by shopping special deals on Small Business Saturday. They promise freshly baked cookies and author appearances from Kim Baker (Pickle, The Water Bears), Shauna Ahern (Enough: Notes from a Woman Who Has Finally Found It), and Laurie Frankel (This Is How It Always Is).
(Queen Anne, free) - Melrose Night Market
Melrose Market vendors will make room for 20 Seattle Made makers for an evening market on Small Business Saturday. Be sure to enter the raffle for the chance to win a themed gift basket filled with local goods.
(Pioneer Squre, free) - Pop-Up Zine Fest on Small Business Saturday!
Find cute gifts for the holidays and support local artists by buying their zines, prints, buttons, and other handmade offerings. Vendors include Hayden Stern, Lauren Maxwell, Kalen Knowles, Sarah Elsa Pinon, and others.
(Capitol Hill, free) - Wallingford Holiday Market
Fill your most spacious tote with goodies from over 25 local artists.
(Wallingford, free) VISUAL ART
- 'Muses & Vices' Issue #4 Party
Pick up a copy of issue #4 of this zine devoted to the taboo and secretive, curated by Mimi Jaffe. This issue is devoted to erotica.
(Ballard, free) WINTER HOLIDAYS
- 24th Annual Magic in the Market
For the 24th year, Magic in the Market brings a tree lighting, seasonal snacks and drinks, choirs, and photos with Santa to the already-magical Pike Place Market. You can even pick out a tree of your own to take home.
(Downtown, free) - Annual Bridge Lighting Ceremony
Enjoy complimentary cookies, hot apple cider, and photos with Santa before marveling at a reindeer and fireworks show and the annual lighting of the bridge.
(Hillman City, free) - The Bravern Winter Illumination Holiday Lighting Ceremony
Seahawks dancers and Santa Claus will make special appearances at the Shops at the Bravern's holiday lighting ceremony.
(Bellevue, free) - GloCone & Monkey Lighting
Sing holiday carols, enjoy festive treats, and see the holiday monkeys that light up the Phinney air raid tower every year.
(Phinney, free) - Greet the Season Celebration
Once Thanksgiving is over, welcome the holiday season with a miniature train display, a gift market with local makers, festive music, and more throughout Lake Union Park.
(South Lake Union, free) - Magnolia Village Winterfest
Delight in an evening of family-friendly holiday fun, from photos with Santa to a holiday market to an ugly sweater contest.
(Magnolia, free) - Make Your Own Ugly Sweater Party!
Bring a plain-old sweater in need of some aggressive bedazzling to this DIY ugly sweater party. They'll provide all the craft supplies you need, but not the sweater itself.
(Capitol Hill, free) - Miracle on 152nd Street
Burien will kick off the holiday season with craft vendors, Santa's workshop, winter lights, and a screening of Elf in the park.
(Burien, free) - Pyramid Brewing Keg Tree Lighting and Donation Celebration
At this second annual family-friendly event, watch Pyramid illuminate their towering, 20-foot-tall keg tree made with 236 kegs—the tallest keg tree on the West Coast—and be the first to try their Snow Cap and Gingerbread Ale beers on draft. Hot cocoa and apple cider will be available for kids.
(Sodo, free) - Small Business Saturday and Downtown Tree Lighting
Downtown Renton shops will open bright and early for holiday shoppers. Later in the day, gather in Piazza Park for a tree lighting and a visit from Santa.Â
(Renton, free)SATURDAY-SUNDAY
FESTIVALS
- GeekCraft Expo
If Etsy and Comic Con are two of your favorite things, you won't want to miss this annual geeky craft market, which just so happens to align with holiday shopping season. Find unique gifts from local artists, or make your own crafts.
(Sand Point, free/$2) SHOPPING
- Seattle Anarchist Book Fair 2019
For its 11th year, the Seattle Anarchist Book Fair will gather radical authors, publishers, and workshop leaders for the intellectual anti-capitalist struggle. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, the fair will host a special panel and workshops, plus set up an "archival exhibit." Pick up some books and make new friends to criticize the state with.
(Seattle Center, free) WINTER HOLIDAYS
- Bright Nights in Burien
Burien Town Square Park will come aglow with twinkly lights every night of the season.Â
(Burien, free) - Garden d’Lights
Whimsical flora and fauna, birds, animals, and cascading waterfalls get the holiday light treatment at Bellevue Botanical Garden's annual display. (To be clear, actual birds and animals will not be strung with lights.) Wander the grounds and take photos among the "half a million" bulbs.
(Bellevue, $5)SUNDAY
FILM
- Day With (Out) Art World Aids Day Film & Discussion Panel
This World AIDS Day event reminds us that the fight against AIDS and its social ramifications isn't over. See videos by seven artists, namely Shanti Avirgan, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Carl George, Viva Ruiz, Iman Shervington, Jack Waters/Victor F.M. Torres, and Derrick Woods-Morrow, that range in subject matter from "anti-stigma work in New Orleans to public sex culture in Chicago."
(Atlantic, free) - Still Beginning
Filmmakers Shanti Avirgan, Nguyen Tan Hoang, Carl George, Viva Ruiz, Iman Shervington, Jack Waters/Victor F.M. Torres, and Derrick Woods-Morrow will show recent work in response to the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis.
(Burien, free) FOOD & DRINK
- Santa Photos at Lucky Envelope Brewing!
Gather up the whole family for photos with Santa.Â
(Ballard, $5) MUSIC
- dfc, 123WHATEVER, Guests
Local alt-rock trio dfc and 123WHATEVER for a show in Ballard.Â
(Ballard, $10) - Elisha Presents: The Blue EP Release Show
Seattle's Elisha will play an acoustic set celebrating her new EP alongside fellow singer-songwriters Spence Hood and Natalie Paige.Â
(Ballard, free) - Toiling Midgets, Aaiiee
Formed in San Francisco in 1979, Toiling Midgets are back together and coming to Seattle for a night of nostalgic punk-rock with Seattle's Aaiiee.Â
(Tukwila, $7) READINGS & TALKS
- Ramesh Srinivasan: Beyond the Valley
UCLA professor Ramesh Srinivasan examines the good and the bad of web-based behemoths like Google and Amazon, as well as "how we might repair the disconnect between designers and users, producers and consumers, and tech elites and the rest of us," in his new book Beyond the Valley.
(Capitol Hill, free) SHOPPING
- Burien Winter Market
This inaugural market hocking local handmade goods will return every Sunday in December.
(Burien, free) - December Macabre Market
Get your photo taken with Krampus and stock up on witchy wares for the holidays.
(Capitol Hill, $1) - Mourning Market
Struggling to find gifts for your ghoulish loved ones in this season of light and laughter? Find all the dark wares you need from local vendors, and wear your gothiest outfit while you shop.
(Eastlake, $1) - Scandinavian Sweater Snag
Eat some Swedish pancakes and purchase a new-to-you Scandinavian sweater for the ultimate hygge winter activity.
(Queen Anne, free) VISUAL ART
- RESIST
As Latinx Heritage Month draws to a close and International Human Rights Month kicks off, this art walk, auction, and live performance event will draw attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border. All proceeds will benefit the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project.
(Capitol Hill, $10) WINTER HOLIDAYS
- Bothell’s Tree Lighting Festival and Holiday Market
Imagine an old-timey community Christmas gathering, but replace goose vendors with local food trucks—that's what you can expect at this Bothell family affair, which also promises a visit from Santa, a tree lighting, and a holiday market.
(Bothell, free) - Light up the Night
Light up your own body like a living, breathing holiday tree by wrapping yourself in battery-operated LED lights, twinkling ugly sweaters, and so on. You'll be an integral lumen of this annual parade on the beach.
(Issaquah, free) - Santa House
Kids can visit with Santa and get their faces painted.
(West Seattle, free) - Evergreen Lights 2019
Over half a million lights will dance around to live music every night of December. Watch the show from a heated viewing area and keep extra warm with cocoa and cookies.
(Bothell, free) - Maple Leaf Lights
Take some time to appreciate the lengths to which people have gone to illuminate their houses with impressive Christmas light displays.
(Maple Leaf, free)