Whether you’re looking for 2020 Lunar New Year celebrations or just hoping to switch up your routine, there are plenty of things to do in Tacoma this weekend. The Tacoma Home + Garden and Washington Sportsmen’s Shows will run through the weekend, but if sipping whisky and eating chocolate are more your speed, we’ve got you covered there, too. Horror fans can head to Alma Mater to see IT, The Ring, and more movies reimagined through campy belly dance routines. And Sunday brings the famous Peking Acrobats to the Pantages Theater. We've rounded up all those and more of the biggest and best events for the weekend below. Plus, find even more events this weekend on our complete Tacoma events calendar.
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JANUARY 22-26
FESTIVALS
Washington Sportsmen’s Show
Tacoma is home to its fair share of outdoor recreation enthusiasts—who would all probably rather be hiking, skiing, snowshoeing, camping, fishing, or hunting than doing almost anything else—which makes attending this four-day show all but mandatory. Now in its 33rd year, the show will support the Pacific Northwest outdoors (and the people who love it) with a kayak fishing pavilion, survival training seminars, a free kids' trout pond, and more as over 500 companies like Danner, Garmin, and Gerber will be on hand demonstrating new outdoor tech and equipment for 2020.
Washington State Fair Events Center
JANUARY 23-26
SHOPPING
Tacoma Home + Garden Show
Make your home and garden the envy of the neighborhood with the help of top landscape professionals from Father Nature Landscapes of Tacoma, Inc., Olympic Landscape, and Nature Perfect Landscape and Design. Garden experts Ciscoe Morris, Marianne Binetti, and Sue Goetz will also be on hand to offer advice on improving your home's garden.
Tacoma Dome
FRIDAY, JANUARY 24
COMMUNITY
Night at the Museum: Knot Tonight
Diamond Knot Brewing will supply the beer for a new series of after-hours engagements aimed at Tacoma's over-21 crowd. These events will unfold in Tacoma's historic Balfour Dock building, along the Foss Waterway Seaport, where visitors can sip beer, nosh on tasty snacks, and enjoy all the exhibits and activities of the maritime museum.
Foss Waterway Seaport
MUSIC
Prom Date Mix Tape
Stranger Things isn't the only way to get your '80s music fix. The so-called "Greatest '80s tribute band in the Pacific Northwest" (according to KOMO TV) will be on hand to play the decade's most memorable new wave hits.
Jazzbones
JANUARY 24-26
PERFORMANCE
Beehive The '60s Musical
Celebrate female empowerment '60s style and listen to classic tunes like "My Boyfriend's Back," "Be My Baby," and "Son of a Preacher Man." The show is a nostalgic story of six young women coming of age in a remarkable decade.
Through Feb 16
Tacoma Musical Playhouse
JANUARY 25-26
MUSIC
Mozart & Mendelssohn & More
Pianist Jessica Choe will deliver an evening of live classical music, featuring Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 25
FOOD & DRINK
Whisky & Chocolate Pairing
It doesn't get more decadent than spending an evening sampling five unique single-malt whiskies, each paired with an array of specialty chocolates from Tease Chocolates. Whisky expert Neil Strachan will be on hand to talk attendees through the five distilled drinks—a Single Barrel First Fill 12 year, Caribbean Cask 14 year, the Week of Peat 14 year, Single Barrel Sherry Cask 15 year, and a Portwood 21 year—and presumably to lend an air of authority that will prevent the evening from descending into a complete bacchanal. Snacks and handcrafted cocktails will be available prior to the tasting.
Doyle's Public House
LUNAR NEW YEAR
Tet Celebration 2020
Celebrate the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Rat at the University of Washington Tacoma. Experience Vietnamese culture at this free event that's open to students and non-students alike. In addition to the Lion Dance, there will be raffles, drinks, games, and food from Linh Son Restaurant, Bambu, and Red Bull.
Vietnamese Student Association at UW Tacoma
MUSIC
The Green
Now regarded as a "force in reggae music," the band is ready to support its latest release, Hawai'i '13, with a power-packed live show highlighting the album's 13 new tracks and old favorites alike.
Spanish Ballroom—McMenamins Elk Temple
Ozomatli
The Los Angeles-based band and multi-Grammy Award-winning outfit deliver a modern Latinx sound that encompasses hip-hop, funk, reggae, and more. These "cultural ambassadors" are characterized by their creativity and festive spirit.
Pantages Theater
PERFORMANCE
Horrific: A Night of Horror Themed Belly Dance
If you're saddened by the distinct lack of belly dance-themed reimaginings of new and classic horror movies in your life, this show may just cure what ails you. The production will feature campy retellings of The Ring, IT, Arachnophobia, and other fright flicks, all told through the unique (and unlikely) artistry of belly dancing.
Alma Mater
SHOPPING
Tacoma Night Market at The Museum of Glass
Local artists and vendors will be on hand with one-of-a-kind items at this night market celebrating Tacoma's ever-growing art scene. There'll be a live glassblowing demonstration in the "hot shop" (which is perfect for a cold January night), and plenty of live music, food, and beer to enjoy.
The Museum of Glass
SUNDAY, JANUARY 26
PERFORMANCE
The Peking Acrobats
A special effect unto themselves, these acrobats combine trick cycling, tumbling, gymnastics, and feats of strength and agility into an eye-opening experience.
Pantages Theater
PERFORMANCE
Shattering
The Tacoma theater scene plays host to this tense story of murder, loyalty, and shifting morality, as a young man named Jonah must choose between the violent gang life that put him in juvenile detention and the foster parent who just may be his salvation.
Tacoma Little Theater
MUSIC
Tomo Nakayama
The critically acclaimed folk musician plays selections from his latest album, Pieces of Sky, an eclectic mix of tunes inspired by his time touring the US, Japan, and Europe, as well as the year he spent busking in SeaTac Airport.
Spanish Ballroom
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