74 Stranger (Than Usual) Things To Do in Seattle This Week: Aug 28-Sept 2, 2018 The Washington State Fair, the Seattle Indies Expo, and More Unusual Events

Bob Noble The Washington State Fair starts this weekend in Puyallup, complete with baby animals, delightfully greasy carnival food, rides, and talent exhibits in categories ranging from baking to vegetable growing.

Our arts critics have already recommended 41 great things to do this week and our music critics have picked the 27 best concerts , but there are still hundreds more events happening. To prevent some of the quirkier and more extraordinary ones from slipping through the cracks, we've compiled them here—from the 13th Annual Jerry Garcia Celebration to PAX West -related events like the Triwizard Drinking Tournament Charity Bar Crawl and the Seattle Indies Expo , and from the opening of MOHAI's WW1 America exhibit to the Marvel Studios 10th Anniversary Film Festival . For even more options this week, check out our complete Things To Do calendar

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TUESDAY

1. Refrigerator Pickles

If you love briny vegetables, allow Carole Cancler, author of The Home Preserving Bible, to show you how to preserve your favorite legumes at home. You'll learn a variety of recipes and go home with a jar of your very own pickles.

2. The Mexican Wine-Off!

Taste Washington vintages from Aluel Cellars side-by-side with wines from the Mexican wine region Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California.

3. American Idol Live

Dance along to performances by the top seven contestants from this season of American Idol, along with a featured cameo by Kris Allen.

4. Be the Editor

To keep their reporting up to snuff, KUOW invites listeners to hear stories and share their feedback. There will be free snacks and drinks.

5. Chas Smith: Cocaine + Surfing

Surfing Magazine editor Chas Smith explores the darker side of a sunny sport in his book Cocaine + Surfing.

6. Climate Science on Tap presents: Hot Planet/Cool Science Variety Show!

There's nothing fun about climate change itself, but that doesn't mean you can't learn about the planet through a variety show filled with music, dance, and poetry. Ask climate scientists questions, watch demos, enter a raffle, and enjoy food and beer.

7. Saving the World with Biomolecule Detection

In this talk, UW bioengineering professor Paul Yager and Conservation X Labs' David Baisch will argue that biomolecule detection technologies could benefit healthcare and ecosystem conservation tools around the world.

8. Somaiya Daud: Mirage

In Somaiya Daud's Mirage, 18-year-old Amani is stolen from her home and forced to serve as the princess' double in the Vathek empire, whose leaders are usurping her people. In isolation, Amani grapples with maintaining her own beliefs and customs while living with her enemies.

TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY

9. Volume: A Survey of Magazines

An exhibition of radical magazines that seek to escape the stranglehold of consumerism. Examples include issues edited or created by erb Lubalin, General Idea, Tibor Kalman, Joshua Berger, Niko Courtelis, Shaz Madani, Clay Hickson, and Liana Jeger.

Closing Wednesday

10. Don Giovanni

In this #MeToo-inspired opera production, the victims of a wealthy and rapacious (but publicly adored) Don Giovanni work together to bring their abuser's crimes into the spotlight.

TUESDAY-THURSDAY

11. You Are Here Too

In a region constantly shifting from seismic activity, highway projects, and development, maps can provide "a link to the shared past and a record of the layers underneath." This exhibition features artists' responses to maps and mapping using images, typeface, and constructs borrowed from maps.

Closing Thursday

TUESDAY-FRIDAY

12. Picatsso

Candace E. Behuniak imitates the great artists of history—with cats! Meet Madame Catisse, Cinq Chats Danses Rouges, and Les Fauves.

Closing Friday

13. So Barbie: Solo Exhibition by Ellen Cooper

Gage student Ellen Cooper says of her solo exhibition, "To highlight the ludicrous, I have put Barbie in environments that are at odds with her image as an ideal of feminine beauty and her perpetually smiling face."

Closing Friday

14. WOMAN Group Show

Check out depictions of women by Ann Gale, Robert Pruitt, Kerry James Marshall, Marsha Burns, Elyse Pignolet, Natalie Ball, and Lezley Saar.

Closing Friday

TUESDAY-SUNDAY

15. Evergreen State Fair

Monroe's summer festival will once again bring carnival games and rides, Native dancers, live music, duck races, and more.

WEDNESDAY

16. Paint & Purr

If the idea of painting with a glass of wine in hand and a cat by your side sounds like your ideal evening, we like your style. Spend some time with adoptable cats from Regional Animal Services of King County and paint a kitty of your own.

17. SHRIEK!: Sleepaway Camp

This time, the feminist and minority-focused horror class series will focus on a real doozy, Sleepaway Camp. It's hard to explain what makes this movie so deeply messed up and, to many, incredibly offensive without giving away the final twist, but let's just say that enlightened it ain't. However, the SHRIEK! crew's talk at the end of the movie should be really interesting for thoughtful slasher fans. Plus, half of the night's profits will be donated to Sanctuary Art Center for vulnerable youth, if that soothes your conscience enough to let you watch something very not-woke.

18. Hot/Pink

As temperatures climb, cool off with some "electric pink colored juice" from a variety of regions and terroirs.

19. Plant-Based Ice Cream Tasting

Every dish is ice cream in this six-course tasting menu, be it plant-based, soft serve, or a special frozen treat. Plum Restaurants' Chef Makini Howell will guide you through each flavor, from Chocolate Almond to Salted Carmel Summer-Berry Pie to the secret September soft serve flavor of the month.

20. The Fabulous Peltoncast Live!

The local sports podcast will welcome you to listen live, promising "The Crowning of Seattle’s Best Burrito/Taco + a Seahawks Season Preview."

21. The Mentalista

Experience mass mind-reading by "master magician, mentalist, and hypnotist" Maritess Zurbano. She'll use "the danger of knives to prove her powers of clairvoyance," among other tricks.

22. Whim W'Him Buzz Raiser

Meet the artists and choreographers of Whim W'Him's Choreographic Shindig IV, and enjoy a sneak peak of the show.

WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY

23. Transparency: SAF Model Exhibit

For Seattle Architecture Foundation's 21st annual Model Exhibition, designers have created model structures that exemplify the principles of "trust and openness among citizens, government, and private organizations."

Opening Wednesday

THURSDAY

24. Ruckus

Comic Reid Clark will use music and improv to share his "dark, blue, and political" jokes after more funny sets from Kate Carlson Carlsen, Laura Lyons, and Lucy Tollefson.

25. Flash Mob to Melt ICE

Protest deportation and family separation at this #AbolishICE rally.

26. Miss Uganda North America

The Inzozi Fashion House and the Ugandan North American Association partner up to showcase a group of young Ugandan women living or studying in North America who promote awareness of global issues and their cultural heritage and connect with their communities over initiatives of their choice.

27. So Bazaar Night Market

Each night of this Art Nouveau-inspired culinary pop-up series will focus on a specific color. The scheme tonight will be black and white, which means Meat On A Mission's mac and cheese with fontina, gruyere, manchego, and mushrooms, Tuktuk Mobile Feast's pork fried rice, Alexandra's Macarons' blanc macaron, and more.

28. What's Gentrification Got To Do With It?: Hate Violence in Capitol Hill

Kshama Sawant and other local leaders will lead a discussion of violence and intolerance against the LGBTQ+ community in Capitol Hill, and what can be done to help.

29. The Triwizard Drinking Tournament

It's time to embrace your witchy, wizardly, or mud-bloody self, get sorted into a house, and fly or apparate to various Capitol Hill pubs in pursuit of the cocktails of Grindelwald (or beer and snacks) while completing challenges. Proceeds from this PAX-related event will help fund toys and games for children's hospitals through Child's Play.

30. 2018 Queen Anne Greenways Playstreet

Enjoy live Americana music, parasol painting, a climbing wall, yoga classes, and more all-ages fun in Queen Anne.

31. Amethyst De Wolfe, Hooves & Beak with Whitney Flinn, TriggerWords, Borys Kossakowski

Support the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project by dancing to local indie folk artist Amethyst De Wolfe and her band, Hooves & Break with Whitney Flinn, TriggerWords, and Borys Kossakowski.

32. Drinks, Drawing & DJs - Exquisite Corpse Night #5

DJs Marvelette and the Ohmu will spin party tunes while you play a surrealist drawing game and sip drinks.

33. African-American Writers’ Alliance Reading

Hear poems by new and published writers from the African American Writers’ Alliance.

THURSDAY-SATURDAY

34. Twisted Flicks - LOST IN SPACE

Based on audience suggestions, Jet City improvisers will add their own dialogue, music, and sound effects to the 1965 sci-fi flick Lost in Space on the spot.

THURSDAY-SUNDAY

35. Marvel Studios 10th Anniversary Film Festival

In honor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 10th anniversary, watch all 20 superhero movies on a giant IMAX screen. This weekend's selections include The Incredible Hulk, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Avengers.

FRIDAY

36. Seattle: Weird, Wild & Wonderful

At sunset, take a tour through downtown to learn about some of Seattle's forgotten beginnings, its influential characters, and its historic architecture.

37. City Fruit Pop-Up Stand & Community Picnic/Potluck

Swing by the community garden to ingest your daily serving of (locally grown) fruit from a pop-up stand, share your favorite picnic dish in a potluck, and eat a picnic with your neighbors.

38. Ben Smith & Friends

Ben Smith and Nancy Wilson of Heart have joined forces with former Prince vocalist Liv Warfield and others to form a new rock band, Roadcase Royale. See the power group perform for a night of new and old hits.

39. Let's Have A Jag

Need to release some tears to the sound of minor guitar chords being strummed by musicians who also do a lot of crying? If so, enjoy an evening of sad acoustic songs with Corey Teruya, Storm Benjamin, and others.

40. SHAKE YA A$$

Shake your booty into the wee hours to hits by the Ying Yang Twins, Diplo, Big Freedia, Sir Mix a Lot, Lil Jon, Mystikal, Major Lazer, B.o.B., and Sage the Gemini, with a special performance by the Seattle Twerkshop.

41. Video Games are a Drag

Cookie Couture's bevy of strange queens—Americano, Beau Degas, Jade Dynasty, Kylie Mooncakes, and the incredible Michete—will lend their outlandish talents to 8-bit classics.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

42. 13th Annual Jerry Garcia Celebration

The world teems with Jerry Garcia acolytes, but few channel the late Grateful Dead guitarist’s preternaturally liquid, radiant style with more facility and feeling than does Seattle’s Andy Coe. Week in and week out all across town, Coe has applied his formidable talents toward honoring Garcia and the Dead’s adventurous improvisational spirit and poignant way with melodies. This show benefits the Rex Foundation, a nonprofit that Grateful Dead members and friends launched in 1983 to “proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education,” according to Wikipedia. DAVE SEGAL

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

43. The Ellensburg Rodeo

Ellensburg's annual rodeo combines "the fun of the Kittitas County Fair" with the "old-west hospitality of the City of Ellensburg" for a Labor Day weekend full of slack and barrel racing, hoedowns, carnival rides, and more.

44. Tumbleweed Music Festival

The Columbia River's (mostly free) acoustic music festival features six music and dance stages, free workshops, a songwriting contest, food and craft vendors, and all-ages activities.

45. Washington State Fair

If you've read Charlotte's Web or live anywhere in America, you're familiar with the essential components of a state fair: Baby animals, delightfully greasy carnival food, rides, and talent exhibits in categories ranging from baking to vegetable growing. Puyallup's decades-old, 20-day Washington State Fair, which kicks off over Labor Day weekend, promises all that and more, claiming to be one of the biggest fairs of its kind in the country.

46. Communicating Doors

Alan Ayckbourn's comedic sci-fi play is about a dominatrix who stumbles upon something frightening and must flee for her life with the help of an older woman. Lamplight Productions will stage it with Ken Michels as director.

SATURDAY

47. Psychosomatic: Where Your Soul Hides Its Suffering

Baghdad-born multidisciplinary artist Hiba Jameel will lead participants in an arts workshop that aims to raise awareness of art therapy.

48. Puff and Paint

No need to bring anything but your creativity to this stoney art party—they'll provide painting and smoking materials.

49. Beyond the Tippe

This Beacon Hill comedy showcase gives a platform to people of color, queer people, and people with disabilities. Special guests include Vee Chattie, Adi Naidu, and Lee Cox. Audience members can also share their own jokes in an open mic.

50. Festival of the Steh-Chass

Help protect Pacific Northwest salmon habitats by supporting the conservation efforts of the Steh-Chass (comprised of Budd Inlet and the Deschutes River watershed, its First People, and Estuary Restoration Possibilities). There will be live music by Native artist Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas (whose "Standing Rock" music video was nominated for an MTV Music Video Award), Thunderbirds Raised Her, Calina Lawrence, and Momentumx.

51. INS Building Tour

Walk the halls of the former U.S. Immigration & Naturalization Service Building to retrace Seattle's immigration history through the eyes of Chinese sojourners, settlers, and laborers, and Japanese community leaders imprisoned in 1942.

52. Late-Night Tour of Stadium High School

Did you know that the 1800s-era Tacoma high school was originally built to be a luxury hotel? Or that parts of 10 Things I Hate About You were filmed there? Learn all about it and take in the French Chateau-style architecture at a nighttime tour.

53. 2018 Korean BBQ Cook-Off

The Korean American Coalition of Washington will compete with teams from other states in a kimchi- and fried egg- filled Korean BBQ cook-off. Taste it all for yourself and decide on your favorite dish.

54. Cooking Demonstration with Author Hsiao-Ching Chou

Hsiao-Ching Chou, author of Chinese Soul Food, will demonstrate a recipe from her book with veggies from the Magnolia Farmers Market, and copies of her book will be available for purchase.

55. Asia Fest

Celebrate Asian cultures with music, dancing, and more at this free festival.

56. Bumberboot

Enjoy some straight-up country, classic honky tonk, and indie Americana from local down-home talents like Darci Carlson, the Rainieros, Nearly Nashville, Barnyard Stompers, Country Dave & the Pickin' Crew, and Double Country.

57. Kalimba: The Spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire

I like my tribute groups ambitious, damn it. Tackling the big-band funk and celestial soul of Earth, Wind & Fire involves serious arranging, playing, dancing, and falsetto-singing skills. The nine-member-strong local ensemble Kalimba, the Spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire definitely have EW&F’s many hits down to a science, but what I really want to know is this: Do they play the amazing early stuff that didn’t tear up the radio, like “Bad Tune,” “Energy,” “Drum Song,” “Zanzibar,” or anything off the Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song soundtrack? I'm not finding anything online to suggest they are. Those were the real kalimba-tastic works, you know. DAVE SEGAL

58. Smoke on the Water

Spend the afternoon floating on a bass cruise with live DJs CASPA, Shlump, CULT 45, and DOWN LO to celebrate the launch of Ruckus Recreational Apparel.

59. Wig Out! With El Vez!

Fashion your locks into a pompadour sturdy enough for riotous dancing at this 60s R&B, soul, and garage DJ night featuring The Stranger's own Mike Nipper (as well as DJs Maxwell Edison, Kevin Fitzgerald, and "human tornado" El Vez).

60. Culinaire

At this literal feast for the senses, fill your plate with chicory salad, steak or halibut, and frozen chocolate mouse while aerial artists fly above your head.

61. The Rocky Harry Potter Show

This shadow cast performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show will follow many of the usual shenanigans, including "virgin games," yelling at the screen, and doing to time warp (again). But this time, the audience is invited to sort themselves into a Harry Potter house and wear their respective colors. There will undoubtedly be some melding of fantasy worlds onstage, too.

62. Botnik Live!

Join the geeky geniuses of Botnik Studios (and their friends) for a night of readings, sketch comedy, songs, and interactive experiments.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY

63. WW1 America

This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, signed on November 11, 1918. MOHAI hosts a body of artifacts, recordings, multimedia presentations, and more, created by the Minnesota History Center, to reveal a picture of America between 1914-1919—its contradictions, hopes, terrors, and dizzying transformations.

Opening Saturday

64. Americana Festival

Spend Labor Day weekend taking in local Americana performances from Tobias the Owl, Kara Hesse, the Local Strangers, and Sarah Gerritsen & the Shadow Catchers.

65. Lake Chelan Pirate Fest

Every year, the resort town honors the legend that pirates traveled to Lake Chelan in 1812 with magical cargo. The multi-weekend festival will wrap things up over Labor Day weekend with evening concerts and daytime swashbuckling activities.

SUNDAY

66. September Macabre Market

Shop for jewelry, art, and clothing from Zombambiecrochet, Blessed Beads Jewelry, Custom Cranium, the poshness monster, Swamp Swag Creations, and more that speaks to your darker side.

67. Sparklefest 2018

This third annual "magical wine festival" on Vashon Island revolving around sparkly, bubbly vintages promises a "plethora of froth and freshness" and tasty food.

68. Cooking Demo with Author Cynthia Nims

Local author, chef, and teacher Cynthia Nims will demonstrate how to prepare her recipe for Green Goddess Crab Salad, using seasonal produce and other ingredients sourced from West Seattle Farmers Market. Signed copies of her book, Crab, will be available for purchase.

69. Puzzle Break - The Race to Find Agent 22

A very important undercover operative, Agent 22, has gone missing, along with five associates in the field. Private eyes and amateur detectives are invited to sleuth their way to some answers in this giant "escape room" that traverses Downtown and Belltown.

70. Seattle Indies Expo

In conjunction with PAX West, independent game developers cohort for a free and slightly smaller gathering to show off their creations to curious gamers—and to rage at a post-expo party. This year promises over 25 new games from Pacific Northwest makers, including Delightment, Puppet Pandemonium, Thousand Threads, Pop Karts Food fighters, Seed, and Spirit of Midnight.

71. Bey Nite

If you enjoy dancing and witnessing immense talent, then it's a near fact that Beyonce's existence has impacted you in a positive way. Celebrate the queen's birthday by dancing to all your favorite Yoncé solo hits and Destiny's Child bangers.

72. Greenwood Music Crawl 2018

Get into the neighborhood vibe with Greenwood's second official music crawl, with five different venue spaces hosting ~30 local rock, punk, pop, and metal bands playing for hours on end. Featured bands this year will include Madcap Pusher, Sunset Flip, Shark Legs, Black Nite Crash, Monsterwatch, Seminars, Mercy Parker, Sam Cobra, Hellbat, Filthy Traitors, Bearaxe, Peyote Ugly, Zero Down, Riffbrokers, Werthless, Psilocyborg, Brad Yaeger, Big Wheel Stunt Show, Danny Newcomb & The Sugarmakers, MeInfecto, and many more.

73. Poropalooza: Poros in Wakanda

At this PAX West after-party, dance the night away with E-Sports players, geeky influencers from across fandoms, and your friends. Wear your cosplay to get five bucks off admission.

74. Straight Outta Compton

Save your strength for this dance party featuring all Los Angeles hiphop, all night long, playing tracks by iconic artists like N.W.A, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, YG, Dr. Dre, Tyga, DJ Mustard, and many more.