South Lake Union or SLU Block Party is an annual summer event that takes place at Denny Park in…read moreWest Lake. It is a cool free concert gathering in the park with music going on throughout the day, food trucks and a beer tent. The concert space is fenced off as it shares space with the beer tent, so 21+ to get in. The park is centrally located around a bunch of other restaurants and pubs in the area if the food trucks lines are too long or are just not to your liking. This years SLU line up had a some local or otherwise lesser known bands. The Smoky Brights and Moondoggies as the headliner toward the end of the evening. Having never heard of these bands, I found the Smoky Brights to be better than the headliners. The crowd showed up, including some real dedicated fans rocking 'Moondoggie' T-shirts so they definitely have a following. The party was good. You had grifting vendors going around with light up toys, overpriced small can beer, about 5 food trucks to choose from and security all around including those checking ID to get in the park. There were some SPD patrols hanging out so it felt alright walking about. You can sign up to be a vendor although I didn't see anyone there selling anything beyond food and drinks and there are several sponsors for the event, chief among them Amazon of course. Overall I think it's cool and would come back. It's free music, and if it's a band you happen to know or have heard about, even better.

I went to South Lake Union Block Party this year, and found that there were some changes made to…read morethe event from previous years. Unfortunately, they no longer have a Burger Competition, where five different South Lake Union eateries provide sliders, in hopes of winning the best burger in South Lake Union. It was one of the highlights of my time here in the past, so was sad to see this no longer happened. Instead, of the burger competition - they have a Food Truck Alley, but the problem was that there were only about five food trucks for hundreds of people, so long lines everywhere. My friends and I decided to skip out on the food trucks and eat at a restaurant nearby. The beer garden is no longer hosted by Brave Horse Tavern, so doesn't have a lot of variety in local beers. You have two Fremont beers, PBR, Rainier and a rose. Also note that for the lines - they do not indicate which line/cashier accepts card or which is cash only. When my friend and I got to the cashier he told us to go to the line next to us because they had the ability to accept card, so a bunch of people ended up cutting the people who were already standing in the long card line. An improvement of the event seems to be the music. They had a series of live bands playing at the main stage, which was nice, and made for a lively time. Just remember it's super loud from the beer garden so speaking to friends can be difficult. Overall, if you're already in the area - check it out. It used to be one of my favorite summer festivals and would make the trek from Bellevue for it, but can't say I would again if there were other events going on. (Bummerz.)

I'm sorry to say that the Sea-Meow (2025) was disappointing. There were too few kitties to pet (and…read morethose that were there, were hogged by little kids who I frankly would not allow around my own cats) and the vendor merchandise was mostly junk. Unattractive spray-painted cat 'art', t-shirts and other 'kitty things'. We purchased some sophisticated, well-done cards. But they were the only classy things we saw. The guy who spoke on stage talked WAY TOO LONG! It was a waste of $33+ per person. We will definitely not go again

A crowd attended & seemed to like it but I won't be returning if it comes to Seattle again. The…read moreadmission was a hefty $35, senior discount nonexistent. Host provided a small package of cat treats without a carry-bag. The items I was hoping to see were almost completely absent: only ONE kitty litter vendor - booth presenters there with limited English language skills; zero cat-trees, zero cat shelves/perches. No demos nor videos at the vendor tables, but very little of what they were selling would have benefited from that anyway. There were a few cat toys - most that would be carried in any pet store. I was hoping to find innovative new products for my cats - to make their home life more interesting, comfortable, or convenient. Instead, I saw a lot of art: there were at least 4 truly good artists, but the rest was mostly common kitsch and plastic; clothing, jewelry, tattoos, stickers - stuff for people who like to advertise to the world that they like cats, rather than items that can be used with cats.

4.5 stars. This is a great festival that showcases French culture/traditions and celebrates…read moreFrance/U.S. relationship. This year was the first year that I attended and it was held in the Seattle Center's Armory Center building (probably a good idea that it was indoor since there was some rain drizzling outside). The festival itself is relatively small, taking the area in the center of the good court area and a little bit on the second floor. The variety of activities though we're quite good, mostly focusing on providing useful information (some fun games for kids, info on where you can find French classes, association's old book sale, cooking demo, baguette tasting/contest, and educational tours) rather than hard selling some random things. I think the highlight for me was the baguette contest that they organized. They literally set up a table of baguettes from various bakeries in Seattle for visitors to try and vote for the best baguette. I've never had so many diff baguette straight in one sitting...it was fun and quite filling..although my top picks for baguettes were probably La Parissienne, Belle Epicurean and Tall Grass Bakery (not in order..because I got so overwhelmed with so many choices to try!). If you have the opportunity to check this festival out, by all means do so. It's quite fun and educational. The only downside was that I think the festival is a little smaller than what I expected and that maybe they could do a slightly better job promoting this event (there were few attendees in the morning when they just got started)!

The festival was pretty small in comparison to what a good festival would be so it was just A-OK in…read moremy book. This was only it's 4th year though so I expect it will get better in the years to come. There were a variety of a events throughout the day such as cooking demos, various seminars, wine and champagne tasting, children's activities, exhibitor booths, entertainment on the main stage, and of course, let's not forget the best baguette contest! The event was held in the Seattle Armory which is already frequented by tons of tourists so they probably pulled in a lot of attendees from that. Their website and advertising needs quite a bit more work but that probably also takes time to improve so I'll give them a pass. I couldn't stick around long enough to find out who won the baguette contest and I can't seem to find that information anywhere so that's a bit of a disappointment. I would probably wait a couple years before attending this festival again - unless I see some major improvements before then with the number of events and activities planned, etc.

Excellent spot for entrepreneurs to meetup with clients or team members. Very low key, much like a…read morewine bar. As with any club, be careful who you share your opinion with and who overhears it.

I love Birch Road!…read more During the day, it's like a WeWork space, a great place to open the laptop or, in my case, meet with clients. Evenings, the extensive list of free and nominally-priced events is beyond amazing! Members have created tasting clubs, and outside vendors are brought in to explain and have us sample their potions; there's also clubs that aren't alcohol-related: games, food tastings, books, Birch Road is fabulous! It's also a great bargain! I've got a nice-sized locker that holds about a dozen bottles, and most nights you can find some club members around the bar just shooting the breeze. Just two nights ago, I had a little group there, we had a couple of sofas to ourselves and maybe overindulged in charcuterie and chips! I'm a big fan!

The Indian Days Powwow is an annual event part of the yearly Seattle Seafair celebrations, hosted…read moreby the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. Native American, Canadian First Nations, and Indigenous communities gather to celebrate and honor cultural traditions through song, dance, and community. I am visiting for the first time and found this festival to be vibrant, well organized, and welcoming. Yearly, this is a three-days weekend event. They have camping space for visitors (need to pre-register). We arrived at 2:30 on the third day of the event, Sunday; parking was reasonable by then. Non-participant visitors like us seem to roll in and out keeping parking spots available. The center grassy field is the performance space. Two sets of powwow drummers and singers perform on either side of the center. The music is so powerful. At the center, we watched kids of all ages in their regalia for their age group's competitions. It is wonderful to see the traditions continue. The outer ring has the vendors, community booths, and food trucks. The shopping is unique with clever designs. I won't be specific to protect artists' copyright. The only bummer is the Daybreak Star Cultural Center, adjacent to this event, was not open for visitors. I understand it has a small art gallery.

Super friendly people! Everybody with the best attitude to meet others and have a good time…read more I know these events are very joyful and I always like them! Maybe after going to Santacon it wasn't that big as I was expecting :( We weren't that many this year and we were all over the place. It was until 3pm that we fill one place.

I think this year has been one of the largest groups for BunnyCon and as you know, it will only get…read moremore word of mouth and popularity. There are already people signing up for next years event. BunnyCon is the Bunny Bar Hop that you've seen in previous years hosted by David LeClair. I have attended many of his meet up events in the past and he shows that he has years of event experience by the amount of people he can manage and yield as well as communicate and coordinate with the local bars in the area. Because there was such a great turnout of over 1,500 people for this years event, many bars that were on the listed hop areas were overwhelmed with bunnies. I felt it was a successful event and because it is Seattle; many bars were available to take the overflow of bunnies from neighboring restaurants that were on the list. Entertainment was fun and tastefully presented as well as the control of crowd. Even though Sakura-con was going on, parking was still to be had and there were no messy situations (that I know of). Everyone seemed to be respectful and wanting to just have clean fun. I attended from 3pm to midnight and followed the rules to stay fed, hydrated, and well full of energetic fun. Because this is a large festival, the experience is what you make of it. There are all possible options and venues available to choose from as well the whole geographic area of downtown Seattle at your fingertips. it could be as exciting or as boring as you wanted since it was up to you to go further from or closer to the action of BunnyCon as your legs could take you (in case you needed a break from the crowd). Good times. I am a fan! Thanks for the event and memories through the Seattle rain.

Seemed somewhat disorganized, with many staff/volunteers walking around aimlessly for the first…read morethirty minutes until opening up registration booths at entrance. Random arrivals were already inside having entered from the sidewalk at Aurora or elsewhere. There should be an announcement made, or something along the lines of: if you are not participating in the raffle or don't want the entry gift, feel free to just walk right in and visit the booths. Many booths had interactive components - a wheel to spin, gardening in a CD case, print work, music, popcorn, etc.) - which made it more interesting for children. Of course, most kids were at one of three bounce-structures including a house, a slice, and an obstacle course! Music from School of Rock helped keep the energy higher from about 2:00-4:00 or so. Food trucks were also present and available for lunch and other such purchases. Overall, a good way to spend an hour, but hoping for some more excitement next year.

I love festivals, fairs, and gatherings of communities! Living in North Seattle, I feel that I…read moreventure out of my hood more often than not to attend neighborhood festivals. This is a nice, quiet, relaxed festival where you can have a bit of fun. I went to Celebrate North Seattle last week. It was located in the parking lot of the Oak Tree Cinemas. Parking was a little crowded but luckily, there is street parking nearby. I was a little concerned when I got there and saw a long line. The line was to get in, sign up for a raffle, and to grab a swag bag with a few little goodies in it. Hey, we can all use a bottle of water and it's a nice touch to have a reusable shopping bag, since this is Seattle after all. It was a great opportunity to get to know some neighborhood businesses and services for instance, Ginger's Pet Rescue, Game Gurus, Fitness Evolution, and Guitar Store, just to name a few. Admission was free thanks to sponsors like Oak Tree Dental, Key Bank, and Epic Life Church. Live music was playing while people grabbed food at three food trucks - 314 Pie, Street Donuts, and Braizen Sandwich Co. Those who know me are aware that I will do just about anything to get to Street Donuts. Yes, they're that good. There were TONS of kids activities that were....FREE!!! Can you imagine your child jumping in a bouncy house or knocking milk bottles over for as long as they want and for...FREE? Things can get expensive at festivals and I can tell you, this was an amazing gift! Another really nice thing is there were tables and games set up for people to mingle. I got to meet a few new people, hang out with people I already knew and just chill on a Sunday afternoon. The most amazing thing was someone from the planning group came to take a survey while I was there to find out how my experience was and what could add to the experience. That's very cool. The event was a little small but really, it was refreshing and although I can think of some improvements, I'm definitely a fan!

Going to Edmonds Historical Museum this morning, Saturday 9 November 2024, I could not clearly…read morerecall if I had been before. Walking the museum exhibits, I found I could recall seeing some of the items on display before - I had come with my Grandma Rosemary maybe over 20 years ago to check it all out. My visits have been all around enjoyable experiences. For parking, I went with street parking about one street away. Parking on the streets nearest the museum was limited due to the Edmonds Saturday Market. I arrived a few minutes before opening (9 a.m.) and was eagerly the first patron of the day. I was greeted by a friendly worker who told me a bit about the museum building and an exhibit that was on its opening day, "Voices of Valor", which covered veterans from Snohomish County in various wars. She informed me I was the first patron to see the exhibit. I thought that was cool! Before proceeding into viewing the exhibits, I made my $5 donation at a box near the entrance/exit though later I did note there was a least one other donation box location in case one forgot and/or did not want to be obvious. Uniforms for the veterans varied depending on the war. It was neat to see how the dark blue for World War(s) morphed into dark green for the Vietnam War and mottled tan (Army) and blue (Navy) for the Iraq War. I appreciated the focus on the efforts of local Snohomish County residents during the war, including what role(s) they served in. Information and artifacts were clearly displayed and easy to understand, and were well laid out and straightforward to navigate (in a clockwise direction displays covered more recent wars). Downstairs, the exhibits were straightforward to navigate as well and included an old jail cell that one could enter, a model train station, and a narrated out loud diorama of an old shingle (wood/logging) mill. A second friendly worker was in the basement when I took the elevator to the lower level, she kindly turned the model train on when I got to the Great Northern Railway section. Other displays also helped contribute to my broader understanding of the development of the area and what daily life looked like in the past.

Museum exhibits are engaging for kids and adults. Old jail cell, diorama of shingle factory, old…read moreschoolhouse -- lots to see. Our main problem was hours of operation. We called their telephone number to get voicemail saying check FB for hours of operation. We looked on FB which told us one set of hours... then drove over to find them closing. The woman at the front desk said they didn't know how to update their FB page to give current/accurate hours. Come on! Pretty basic... I don't recommend driving out of your way to get here given the risk that it will be closed.