Seattle, WA
Seattle weekend activities to soak up the sunshine
The weekend is here, and the forecast says get out and enjoy it!
Plenty of folks will be taking advantage of the natural beauty of our state during a free weekend at Washington State Parks. On Saturday, not only can you get into the Washington State Parks with no Discovery Pass needed, but it is also the Free Fishing Weekend. That means you can fish for SPECIFIC species of fish, including rainbow trout and bass, rockfish, flounder, and more. However, a license is still required for fishing and harvesting of shellfish, salmon, steelhead, and more. Get more details on what you can and can’t catch right here.
It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year in Tacoma. The Northwest Pinball and Arcade show has returned, and all weekend long, the Greater Tacoma Convention Center turns into the biggest arcade in the Pacific Northwest. Over 400 games will be on the floor and playable with your ticket, in addition to guest speakers, workshops, vendors, and even movie screenings. You’ll find me hanging around the Galaga machine. It also acts like an interactive pinball history museum, with machines from the early days of pinball up to the latest and greatest modern machines. Get details and tickets right here.
That’s not the only nerd theme fun this weekend, in Kent on Saturday, it is the Kent Nerd Party. The event’s website says nerds of all fandoms will find something fun to do, whether it’s larping, the LEGO museum, or miniature painting, and that just scratches the surface. This event is free and runs from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. in downtown Kent.
Seattle weekend activities to celebrate Pride Month
Pride Month is here, and there are plenty of events to celebrate at. Pride in the Park is Saturday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. It’s free and open to all ages and offers live music, food, drag shows, and lots more. In White Center, over 100 LGBTQ+ friendly vendors will be in downtown White Center for the White Center Pride Street Festival. There will be performances from local musicians, a beer garden, a family play area, and live wrestling. The fun starts at noon and goes until 11 p.m.
The Festál program continues at the Seattle Center, and this weekend’s celebration is the Indigenous Peoples Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be traditional music and dance, weaving demos, poetry, and lots of vendors for art and food. Get the full event schedule right here.
If you are looking for more free fun, Sunday at the Phinney Center is the PhinneyWood Summer Arts Festival, complete with vendors, workshops to help you with your next project, a beer garden, and of course live music and fun for the kids.
If you love to thrift, then you’ll want to head to the Washington State Fair Events Center in Puyallup, Saturday and Sunday for Thriftapalooza. Here you will find a huge selection of second-hand goods, everything from clothes and home goods to toys and collectibles. If you are looking for a gift for yourself or someone in your life, you are sure to find something fun and unique.
If you are a fan of hitting the links, why not try something a little bit different by golfing…at night. Glow Golf is returning to the Meadows Park Golf Course on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the summer. Your ticket will get you a round of golf, complete with a light-up ball to track your shots, a drink ticket, and even glow swag. Get details right here.
How are you soaking up the sun this weekend? Let me know at paulh@kiroradio.com.
We survived it last year, barely, but now we’re in for several “months of Hell” as closures of northbound I-5 across the Ship Canal Bridge return.
You deserve a pat on the back if you survived the “month of Hell” between July and August last summer.
You might need therapy to survive what’s about to happen.
Four ‘months of hell’ inbound
Four “months of Hell” will start this weekend with a full closure of northbound I-5 from downtown Seattle to University District. The Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) needs the weekend to set up a work zone across the Ship Canal Bridge.
Come next Monday, the two left lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge will be closed 24/7, and this is going to last for four months.
I spoke with Tom Pearce, a communications specialist for WSDOT, about the upcoming work last year.
“We will work for about four months, and then we will pause and pick everything up when the World Cup comes to town,” Pearce said. “When the World Cup ends, we will have another weekend-long closure, reset the work zone, and then we’ll start to work on the right lanes of the northbound Ship Canal Bridge.”
And that will come with a second four-month chunk of lane closures.
I’m not sure if you remember just how bad these similar closures were for that one month last summer, but it was absolutely brutal.
To help with the traffic flow, WSDOT kept the I-5 express lanes open in the northbound direction the entire time. The rationale is that it is the direction of travel of the closures.
What that created was a daily one-hour delay, or more, for southbound I-5 drivers. Tens of thousands of southbound drivers use those express lanes every morning, and with that option gone, they had to stay in the main line, creating a daily five-mile backup to the Edmonds exit down to Northgate.
“We know that it was difficult for travelers, particularly for southbound in the morning on I-5,” Pearce said. “People did well at adapting and using other transportation methods and adjusting their schedules. It went relatively well.”
WSDOT is using all the data it collected during that month of closures and is using to help with congestion this time around.
Here’s the setup going forward
Northbound I-5 will be closed through the downtown corridor all weekend. When it reopens on Monday, only the right two lanes will be open until June 5. That weekend, the entire northbound freeway will be closed to remove the work zone.
The work will take a break during the World Cup until July 10. Then, northbound I-5 will be reduced to just two left lanes until the end of the year. The end date hasn’t been released. It was originally scheduled to wrap up in November.
This is going to cause significant delays around Seattle. My best advice is to alter your schedule and get on the road at least an hour earlier than normal.
And if you think you’ll just jump on the light rail out of Lynnwood to avoid the backup, you’re going to need a plan. That parking lot is full by 7 a.m. most mornings. It will likely be filled earlier than that going forward.
Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.
Follow @https://twitter.com/newsguysully
As the holiday season ends, a new week begins, and one of the biggest events this week will be 2026’s first West Seattle Art Walk. The second Thursday is as early as it can get this month – on the 8th – so set your calendar for this Thursday as a special night to get out and enjoy the work of local artists. A preview with this quarter’s map/list and Thursday highlights should appear early in the week on the West Seattle Art Walk website. As usual, neighborhood organizations are supporting clusters of venues in Alki, Admiral, The Junction, and Morgan Junction; places with artist receptions usually start them at 5 pm. No Art of Music performances this month; that feature is on hiatus until later in the year.
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