The 61 Best Things to Do in Seattle This Weekend: September 18-20, 2020

It’s technically still summer until next week, but with the concept of time growing dimmer in our collective subconscious, you can go ahead and drive to a haunted farm and buy glass pumpkins for your mantle this weekend. We’ve rounded up our picks for those and other socially distant happenings to keep you entertained (including non-fall-related things, like a Carpool Cinema drive-in screenings of Beasts of the Southern Wild and Hugo House’s Bibliophilia Storytelling Festival). For even more options, check out our guides to movies to stream this weekend, and our complete streaming events and protests & resistance calendars.

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All events are online unless otherwise noted. Keep in mind that in-person events may be canceled due to poor air quality.

FRIDAY
COMMUNITY

Swifts Night In: Vaux’s HappeningEvery year, a screaming frenzy of Vaux’s swifts (a long-winged bird named after the late mineralogist William Sansom Vaux) take off from the Frank Wagner Elementary School chimney to continue on their migratory journey. It’s a sign that fall is coming! The Pilchuck Audubon Society is livestreaming this year’s flight.  

FESTIVALS

Annual ChuSeok Korean FestivalThe Asian Pacific Cultural Center’s take on the ChuSeok festival, a traditional Korean celebration of the fall harvest, will include a full day of streamed events, including Samulnori drum dances, paper lotus flower-making, and more such fun. 

FOOD & DRINK

Palace Kitchen | One Night OnlyTom Douglas’s storied Palace Kitchen was a casualty of COVID-19, but if you miss it, you can attend this one-night-only pop-up at Douglas’s Serious TakeOut. Staff will don the restaurant’s trademark blue kitchen jumpsuits and serve iconic dishes like the Palace Burger Royale, wood-grilled chicken wings, fried corn on the cob, and chocolate hazelnut tart with Frangelico whipped cream.Serious TakeOut (Ballard)

Persian Favorites with Omid RoustaeiChef Omid Roustaei will walk you through his favorite Persian dishes (like szitoon parvardeh, kuku sabzi, and qhottab) as he shares stories of growing up in Tehran. 

MUSEUMS

Museum of Pop Culture ReopeningThe Paul Allen-founded music and pop culture museum will reopen for in-person visits at 75% capacity, requiring guests to wear masks and maintain at least six feet of distance. Guests will also be provided with stylus pens to use on interactive surfaces to avoid germ-spreading. They’ll be open limited hours, from 10 am-6 pm on weekends only.Museum of Pop Culture (Seattle Center)

MUSIC

Jeff Tweedy Live at the Drive-InThe gently likable Jeff Tweedy is the former singer for ’80s alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, the current/past singer for Wilco, and one of the more celebrated songwriters in music today. He and his band will perform live from McHenry, Illinois. 

Kremwerk Livestream Series: Sangwoo, ‘nohup’Seattle DJs Sangwoo and nohup will treat you to some relaxing Afro-Atlantic jams and house beats. 

Sheryl Crow: Songs from the Big Green BarnBelt along to “If It Makes You Happy” as Sheryl Crow performs two nights of acoustic sets live from the Big Green Barn. 

READINGS & TALKS

Jill Lepore with Margaret O’MaraThose Instagram algorithms that prioritize faces over text and show you things based on what the internet aligns with your interests? That started all the way back in the Cold War. Hear more from Jill Lepore, author of These Truths, in conversation with fellow historian Margaret O’Mara (The Code).

Salon of Shame presents Salon of Shame #97: Who’s Zoomin’ Who?Writing that makes you cringe (“middle school diaries, high school poetry, unsent letters”) is read aloud with unapologetic hilarity at the Salon of Shame, which will move online this time.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY
COMEDY

SketchFest Seattle presents StreamFest 2020 pt. 2Those SNL reruns aren’t going anywhere—for this monthlong sketch comedy festival, turn your attention to livestreamed performances and classes with local comics on Zoom and Twitch.

FILM

Carpool CinemaScarecrow Video is co-hosting three weekends of drive-in movies at the Phinney Center parking lot. Load up on snacks and enjoy a screening of Beasts of the Southern Wild. Phinney Center

HALLOWEEN

Maris Farms Spooky TrailLet’s see if this spooky trail can out-freak 2020. Probably not, since it’s the “toned down,” socially distant version of their haunted woods experience. Haunt enthusiasts who “appreciate a haunt with very detailed scenes” should have a good time.  Maris Farms (Buckley)

PERFORMANCE

ReviveAfter a successful first run in January, multi-disciplinary artists Porscha Shaw and Jay O’Leary will perform dance and spoken word that aims to “resuscitate the image of Blackness in America” (online this time).

SPORTS & RECREATION

Wag Love Life 5K 2020Run, walk, or hike at your own pace and enter your results virtually at this fundraiser for canine cancer research, which is inspired by a centuries-old Nepalese festival where dogs are honored and thanked for their loyalty and friendship.

FRID
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