Venues may have health guidelines in place—we advise directly checking the specific protocols for an event before heading out.

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Jump to: Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Multi-Day

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FRIDAY

FILM

Manzanar, Diverted Screening and Director Q&A
Past Event Like List In Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust, director Ann Kaneko braids together the memories of women across generations: Native Americans, Japanese American WWII incarcerees, and environmentalists who each share a common journey to defend their land and water. The film unveils the story of the Manzanar concentration camp in California, which is intertwined with histories of dispossession experienced within the Nüümü (Paiute) and News (Shoshone) lands called Payahüünadü, or "the place where the water always flows." This free screening of the film will be followed by a Q&A session with Kaneko and other collaborators. 
(Henry Art Gallery, University District, free)

Querelle Past Event Like List
New German Cinema master Rainer Werner Fassbinder's rebellious style blends Rococo mystique and masculine burlesque in Querelle, a lush adaptation of Jean Genet's homoerotic melodrama Querelle of Brest. The director's barbed swan song, released posthumously after his sudden death at age 37, tells the tale of a French sailor whose visit to a port brothel leads to murder, corruption, and queer explorations.
(The Beacon, Columbia City, $12.50)

FOOD & DRINK

Lunar New Year Makers & Bakers Night Past Event Like List
Sip Lucky Envelope's special Lunar New Year beer releases, scoop up scrumptious baked goods from vendors The Bun Haus and Sweet Dream Bakes, and admire handmade wares from Miki's Ceramics. The food truck Panda Dim Sum will also be slinging pan-fried noodles, pork buns, dim sum dumplings, lotus leaf sticky rice wraps, and potstickers.
(Lucky Envelope Brewing, West Woodland, free)

LIVE MUSIC

Bodytalk: Life On Planets, Tony H, Parker Mills, and More Past Event Like List
Soulful singer-songwriter Life On Planets will be joined by DJs Tony H and Parker Mills for an evening of R&B, house, and techno, with live tattooing from Elliot Liedgren and various wearable art vendors.
(Madame Lou's at the Crocodile, Belltown, $15)

Den Tapes Winter Jam: Fluung, Salt Lick, Crazy Eyes, and New You Past Event Like List
Late January is really when the winter depression really begins to hit its stride. And it's even more reason to bundle up, trudge outside, and groove with a crowd of warm bodies to excellent music. Seattle tape label Den Tapes is providing an excuse to do so this Friday with its Winter Jam at Tractor Tavern featuring a stellar lineup of label bands. Fluung's gritty energy, Salt Lick's introspective jams, and Crazy Eyes' fuzzy punk tunes will more than boost your serotonin levels. The band I'm most stoked to see is Tacoma's New You, who have a fun sound that combines 2000s-esque pop punk with a millennium rock 'n roll attitude for a fresh, new perspective on both. It's going to be a good night. Also! Bring cash and pick up some tapes. STRANGER STAFF WRITER JAS KEIMIG
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard, $11)

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

BOOTS! - Return of the Space Go-Gos Past Event Like List
'60s-themed DJ night Boots is back with an intergalactic dance party featuring go-go dancers, out-of-this-world decor, and tunes straight from the space age. Costumes are highly encouraged so make sure to dress in your best Barbarella couture or alien chic.
(Belltown Yacht Club, Belltown, $15)

Breaking Free - Playing All Disney & Nickelodeon Hits
Past Event Like List Break free from the work week with this nostalgia-riddled dance party featuring hits from your favorite Disney and Nickelodeon movies and shows (think Hannah Montana, Cheetah Girls, Camp Rock, and more). 
(Neumos, Capitol Hill, $5-$10)

Taylor Rave Past Event Like List
Take Tay Tay's advice about "getting down to this sick beat" with a rave dedicated to the beloved pop princess. Expect a blend of Taylor Swift's beat-driven jams (think: Reputation or 1989) along with remixes, lasers, neon decor, and strobe lights to keep you in a lavender haze.
(The Crocodile, Belltown, $15)

This Party Is Killing You - Robyn Night!
Past Event Like List This Party Is Killing You is the longest-running dance night paying tribute to Sweden’s favorite daughter, Robyn. Get ready to hear her hits, B-sides, remixes, and rarities along with more party bangers to cry to by the likes of Lady Gaga and Carly Rae Jepsen.
(Chop Suey, Capitol Hill, $13)

PERFORMANCE

The Incubation Project Past Event Like List
Revealed through a combination of dance, devised theater, and improvisational movement, The Incubation Project is an experimental meditation on the societal implications of the (seemingly never-ending) pandemic. The choose-what-you-pay performance, which offers both streaming and in-person viewing options, will be presented by The BGS Collective (Sarah "Bix" Bixler, Leslie Graves, and Dylan Smith).
(18th & Union: An Arts Space, Capitol Hill, Choose your own price)

READINGS & TALKS

Artist Talk with Linda Connor Past Event Like List
Lauded photographer Linda Connor's penchant for moody landscapes and sacred sites has led her (and her trusty large-format camera) to India, Turkey, Peru, Iceland, Ethiopia, and Southeast Asia. The former Guggenheim fellow and San Francisco Art Institute professor will deliver a free artist talk, so drop by to learn more about her illustrious life and career.
(Photographic Center Northwest, Central District, free)

Seattle Youth Poet Laureate Group Reading Past Event Like List
The kids are all right! Brilliant youngins and current Youth Poet Laureates Aamina Mughal, Abby Skeel, Kyle Gerstel, Keegan York, and Bayla Cohen-Knott will strut their poetic stuff at this group reading.
(Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill, free)

VISUAL ART

Sasha Petrenko: FOREST TIME WATER
Past Event Like List "Earthling, artist, and storyteller" Sasha Petrenko serves up an ecofeminist sci-fi rock opera in FOREST TIME WATER, an immersive installation that allows visitors to trigger vinyl records, radios, and videos to reimagine the tale of an expelled paleodendrologist. The post-apocalyptic work fits in with Petrenko's interdisciplinary approach, which blends sculpture, theater, video, sound, and somatic experiences.
(Jack Straw Cultural Center, University District, free; opening)

SATURDAY

COMMUNITY

Explore the Outdoors Family Fair
Past Event Like List Running While Black author Alison Mariella Désir hosts this fam-friendly community event, where attendees can chat with a wide range of nature-based and BIPOC organizations at "interactive tables" and mini-workshops. Don't miss out on the adventure gear giveaways; visitors can also catch clips from Crosscut's “Out & Back with Alison Mariella Désir” series and hear from show contributors. A walk/run around Columbia Park with Désir and Club Seattle Runners Division members kicks off at noon, so head there first to get your steps in.
(Rainier Arts Center, Rainier Valley, free)

FILM

The Picture Taker - Ernest Withers - Photographer Past Event Like List
At this free celebration, the soon-to-be-released PBS documentary The Picture Taker will screen in advance of Black History Month and in observance of MLK Day. Filmmaker Phil Bertelsen and producer Lise Yasui will share their thoughts in a Q&A session after the film, which follows the life and career trajectory of Ernest Withers, a photographer, policeman, and FBI informant amid the civil rights movement in '60s Memphis.
(Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, Central District, free)

Saturday Secret Matinees 2023
Past Event Like List If you're a sucker for old-school cinema with an element of surprise, this recurring series is for you. Grand Illusion will continue its longstanding tradition of screening matinee classics alongside a "weekly cliffhanger episode of a movie serial" every Saturday, all in dreamy 16mm. This weekend, the theme is “Swashbuckling Generations”—expect swordplay and secret identities.
(Grand Illusion, University District, $5-$11)

FOOD & DRINK

Lunar New Year 2023 Festivities Finale Past Event Like List
Lucky Envelope will cap off their Lunar New Year celebration with special merch and three beer releases: Metal Ox Juicy IPA (a re-release), Lucky Orange IPA, and Mijiaya Historic Chinese Beer. Treats from Panda Dim Sum will also be available.
(Lucky Envelope Brewing, West Woodland)

Next Level Burger Ballard Grand Opening Past Event Like List
Former Stranger writer Sean Nelson once wrote that Next Level Burger "turns out to be a fantastic innovation for those of us whose brains know eating animals is indefensible but whose hearts still can't get past the idea that a cheeseburger, fries (or, better yet, tots!), and a milkshake is nature's perfect meal." The plant-based fast food chain will celebrate the grand opening of its new flagship Ballard Blocks location with free burgers and swag for the first 100 people in line, $25 gift cards for the first 10 people in line, free vegan hot chocolate, and a chance for all guests to win a $100 gift card. Not only that, but they'll also have a DJ, eco-friendly balloon animals, and face painting. Ten percent of the day's proceeds will benefit the Seattle Humane Society.
(Next Level Burger Ballard, West Woodland, free)

LIVE MUSIC

Django's Birthday Concert with Ranger and the "Re-Arrangers" and The Hot Tub of France
Past Event Like List Swing jazz musicians Ranger and the "Re-Arrangers" and the Hot Tub of France will celebrate the 113th birthday of prolific jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt with covers of his classic bebop tunes.
(The Royal Room, Columbia City, $15)

KEXP Presents: Smokey Brights - Record Release Party
Past Event Like List The crackly and warm guitar-driven rock band Smokey Brights will celebrate the release of their new album, Broken Too, on Seattle's own Freakout Records. The album's first single "Ocean Shores" received praise from KEXP, who named it Song of the Day and described it as sparkling with "glimmering synths" and "saccharine vocals."
(Tractor Tavern, Ballard, $15)

PARTIES & NIGHTLIFE

Hyper: A Queer Hyper-Pop party
Past Event Like List Beep beep! DJs/drag performers HYPERPOPPERS, Emoji Heap, Meowhouse, Pupusa, and Uh Oh welcome you to a queer dance party celebrating the future of pop. Hyper pop, Eurodance, and bubblegum anthems by the likes of SOPHIE, Charli XCX, A.G. Cook, Kim Petras, and more will keep your energy up through the night. Let's ride.
(Cherry Nightclub, Downtown, $10)

Sober Forward: Indie Night Dance Party
Past Event Like List There’s no shortage of dance parties this weekend, but this is the only free, sober-forward shindig featuring indie rock jams (courtesy of DJ X-2) and a full bar of non-alcoholic cocktails and beverages.
(Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown, free)

PERFORMANCE

Fancy Cafeteria Past Event Like List
Part Broadway glamour, part disheveled improv experiment, Fancy Cafeteria devises a brand-new musical straight from audience suggestions, complete with song, dance, a live soundtrack, and a full cast. With no predetermined script or score, it's bound to be a bumpy, hilarious ride.
(Rendezvous, Belltown, $15)

Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, Part II, Chapter 1 (The Ninth Chapter) Past Event Like List
Neal Kosaly-Meyer has finally reached the halfway point of his impossible and wonderful and funnaminal project, which is reading all of James Joyce's last (and, in my opinion, very unreadable) novel (Finnegans Wake) from memory. In this session, which should be experienced more as a musical than literary performance, Kosaly-Meyer channels the novel's ninth chapter, which, as he informed me, has my favorite line from the work: "It darkles, (tinct, tint) all this our funnaminal world" (fun/animal/phenomenal/fundamental). We also owe the name of the most basic stuff of matter, quarks, to Finnegans Wake: "Three quarks for Muster Mark." STRANGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER CHARLES MUDEDE
(Chapel Performance Space, Wallingford, Sliding scale $5-20)

READINGS & TALKS

Tommi Parrish in conversation with Jas Keimig Past Event Like List
Stranger staff writer Jas Keimig will meet with Melbourne-born cartoonist, painter, and Lambda Literary Award recipient Tommi Parrish for this evening of discussion about Parrish's new tome, Men I Trust, and their other works, including the recently reprinted The Lie and How We Told It. 
(Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery, Georgetown, free)

SUNDAY

COMEDY

Genre Box: Improv with Style
Past Event Like List This fresh improv experience brings new meaning to the term "audience-informed." Attendees will not only provide the story for a team of comedy experts to interpret, but also determine the genre. Basically, you might witness a stranger's life saga told as a TikTok video or a Tarantino gore fest. The possibilities for each show are endless, so turn up with your best suggestions in mind.
(Unexpected Productions' Market Theater, Pike Place Market, $15)

FILM

Rouge Past Event Like List
Queer melodrama master Stanley Kwan directs this desolate, yet sensual ghost story, a lush touchstone of Hong Kong’s Second New Wave. Rouge follows Cantopop icons Anita Mui Yim-fong and Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing as magnetic lovers enmeshed in a troubled, yet enduring romance.
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $7-$14)

SHOPPING

Fremont Bridge Winter Market Past Event Like List
Duck under the Fremont Bridge for the winter season, where you'll find over 100 booths of handcrafted goods, plus street bites, DJs, and patio heaters to help you stay toasty while you mingle.
(Fremont Sunday Market, Fremont, free)

MULTI-DAY

FESTIVALS

Village of Lights: Winter Karneval
Past Event Like List The holidays may be over, but winter's still here—why not pretend you're in a real-deal Bavarian village? Leavenworth's Winter Karneval honors an ancient German tradition called Fasching. The charming town will brighten its streets with twinkle lights and offer performances and demos of ice carving and fire dancing alongside other snowy festivities.
(Leavenworth, Saturday-Sunday)

FILM

Belle de Jour in 35mm Past Event Like List
If you have not heard, the building that one of Seattle's most important cinema institutions, the Grand Illusion, calls home is now on the market. And looking at how the University District is changing, and how developers may relocate all of their profit-driven energy from an uncertain South Lake Union (a tech hub) to a more certain world-class university that attracts students from around the world, now might be the time to watch movies at the much-loved cinema. And this week it's screening a classic of cinema, Luis Buñuel's Belle de Jour. Maybe we can make some sense of Grand Illusion's situation from a film about the essence of bourgeois sexuality. STRANGER SENIOR STAFF WRITER CHARLES MUDEDE
(Grand Illusion, University District, $5-$11, Friday & Sunday)

Everything Everywhere All At Once
Past Event Like List If you somehow haven't caught the explosive film that just earned 11 Academy Award nominations, here's your chance. From directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka "The Daniels," Everything Everywhere All at Once is a boggling blend of action, sci-fi, and comedy that begins with an unlikely hero: an overworked laundromat owner struggling with her taxes. Michelle Yeoh stars as Evelyn, multiverse explorer, martial arts aficionado, and world saver.
(Central Cinema, Central District, $12, Friday-Sunday)

Framing Agnes
Past Event Like List Director Chase Joynt calls upon the story of Agnes, a trans woman who participated in a '60s UCLA gender health study to covertly access gender-affirming healthcare, to "widen the frame" of trans history in Framing Agnes. The film's historical reenactments, led by a cast of trans performers, breathes new life into a little-known aspect of trans history with a spirit of collaboration. 
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $7-$14, Saturday-Sunday)

Only in Theaters
Past Event Like List Beloved LA-based art house cinema chain Laemmle Theatres takes center stage in this documentary by Raphael Sbarge, which digs into its business challenges and survivalist spirit with commentary from Hollywood thinkers like Ava DuVernay, Cameron Crowe, Nicole Holofcener, and others.
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $13-$14, Friday-Sunday)

FOOD & DRINK

Fremont Soupocalypse 2023 Past Event Like List
There's nothing like a steaming bowl of something hot, brothy, and restorative to bolster your spirits and ward off the chill of winter. Luckily, Fremont restaurants have risen to the occasion with a "neighborhood winter soup walk" called Fremont Soupocalypse, allowing diners to get their soup fix and support local businesses during their slowest months of the year to boot. Simply amble through the neighborhood and enjoy dine-in and takeout specials from Mischief on Canal, Local Tide, El Camino, Paseo, Dreamland, Petoskey's, and more restaurants. You'll collect a stamp on your passport for each soup destination—if you collect eight or more, you'll be entered for a chance to win prizes.
(Various locations, Friday-Sunday)

PERFORMANCE

An Incomplete List of All the Things I'm Going to Miss When the World is No Longer:
Past Event Like List This electro-synth musical follows a group of young queer pals who decide that their last night on Earth should be an epic rager. Penned by Dante Green and directed by Nansi Dwendi, An Incomplete List of All the Things I'm Going to Miss When The World is No Longer: blends partying with pensive reflection for a surprising meditation on the human experience.
(Theatre Off Jackson, Chinatown-International District, Pay-what-you-can, Friday-Sunday)

VISUAL ART

Elizabeth Donnally Davidson: The Poetry of Ordinary Things
Past Event Like List If you haven't caught Elizabeth Donnally Davidson's The Poetry of Ordinary Things, the tactile exhibition is worth a peek before it closes on January 29. Donnally Davidson's unique material approach blends textiles and ceramics that "serve as metaphors for human existence and the internal and external forces that shape our lives," and her hand-stitched Valentines series is the perfect precursor to V-Day.
(Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Winslow, free, Friday-Sunday; closing)

Jessica Lichtenstein: Delicious Torment Past Event Like List
If you're already preparing yourself for the onslaught of plastic detritus that is Valentine's Day, try turning to Jessica Lichtenstein's Delicious Torment for a unique take on human emotion instead. The multimedia artist's plaster heart sculptures are embedded with engraved lockets that forgo tacky platitudes for playful oxymorons, nonsequiturs, and pensive lines of poetry.
(Winston Wächter Fine Art, South Lake Union, free, Friday-Saturday; opening)

Medley: Framed Selections from the Collection Past Event Like List
Curated from little-seen works in Davidson Gallery's permanent collection, Medley creates a surprising viewing experience. The exhibition stages hidden treasures by regional favorites (Lockwood Dennis, Art Hansen, and others) alongside internationally renowned artists like Leonor Fini and Leticia Tarrago, with an eye toward the whimsical and unusual.
(Davidson Galleries, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Saturday; closing)

Mel's Hole - PUNCH Projects Past Event Like List
Seattle-gallery-turned-rural-arts-collective PUNCH Projects presents this eerie investigation into Mel’s Hole, which ranks eighth on thetravel.com’s 20 Most Mysterious Places in the USA. So what's going on with this weird hole in Ellensburg, shouting distance from Central Washington University? Well, it might be bottomless. It also might emit "powerful beams of light." Explore the hole's mysteries through this installation, which offers a visual journey deep into the Manastash hills.
(SOIL, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Saturday; closing)

Monyee Chau and Tu'er Shen: a Lunar New Year installation
Past Event Like List Queer Taiwanese/Chinese artist Monyee Chau’s site-specific window installation celebrates the Lunar New Year with the curious tale of the Chinese folk deity Tu’er Shen, a rabbit who acts as "patron and protector of same-sex affairs."
(The Grocery Studios, North Beacon Hill, free, Friday-Sunday)

PublicDisplay.ART: the exhibit Past Event Like List
Contemporary heavy hitters like Tariqa Waters and Moses Sun will share their work alongside over two dozen other forward-thinking artists in this showcase of creatives recently seen on the pages of the quarterly publication PublicDisplay.ART. The organization's fresh gallery space aims to bolster their work by championing local and emerging artists.
(PublicDisplay: GALLERY, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Saturday; closing)

Susan Dory: Spontaneous Sights
Past Event Like List Seattle-based artist Susan Dory's labyrinth of geometric compositions envision the "harmonious interconnectedness of all things," from the growth and movement patterns of flora and fauna to the support systems in our own lives. Dory's careful patterning is disrupted by wavy, organic forms in Spontaneous Sights, creating a sense of depth and disruption.
(Winston Wächter Fine Art, South Lake Union, free, Friday-Saturday; opening)

VIM: A Group Invitational Past Event Like List
Innovative contemporary artists like Sofia Arnold, Markeith Woods, and Genevieve Leavold come together for this invitational group exhibition, a playful response to the archaic word "vim" (not often seen without its counterpoint word, "vigor"). VIM aims to capture the "high spirits and infectious energy" of the term through eye-popping visuals and textures.
(ZINC contemporary, Pioneer Square, free, Friday-Sunday)