This is my first time to the Georgetown Carnival (The event is free) I honestly I don't know if I…read morehave heard of it before or not since there always seems to be going on in Seattle each weekend. Especially with the warmer weather coming around. There is so many different kinds of things to see here! There is a section where there are all kinds of food trucks where you can get pretty much anything you want. If you desire something a bit more relaxing then you can also go in all of the eating establishments in the neighborhood that are open and ready to receive guests who want to sit and relax. After making it past the food trucks there are just all kinds of vendors selling pretty much anything you can think of as well. From crafts to shirts to jewelry and so much more! There are performers dressed up as clowns, fairies, drag queens and various other kinds of personas that people are totally prepared to be in character for. Throughout the day there are free concerts that take place too! There are events that happen all day but the events I saw was the power tool races where contestants assemble old power tools like saws and sanders into vehicles in which they drag race each other. While it appears that every racer is confident that their vehicle is dependable and fast when it comes down to it sometimes it just doesn't work out at all. Which is part of the quirky charm with this event. The races have very odd and hilarious homemade metal trophies to whoever is the best racer at the end as well as who qualifies in various categories. So much fun! There was also a clown side show where magic tricks were being performed as well as a fun house of sorts where many carnival antiques are housed along with clown masks, face painting and various other activities. Fun! I will definitely keep my eyes and ears open for when the carnival rolls around again next year because I would love to see more of those power tool races again!

Went last year and this year was not as much fun as last year. There were more interesting vendors…read moreand activities last year. This year was quieter and seemed smaller.

This year's Ballard Music and Seafoodfest on a Saturday had Built to Spill as the headliner, along…read morewith Low Cut Connie. Both groups attracted the most people to the main stage of this multi-block event taking up NW Market St and 22nd Ave NW, among other streets. I made the mistake of getting here around 2:30pm way past the event start time, then spending half an hour to find parking near the Ballard First Lutheran Church and then walking about 15 minutes to reach the main stage on Market St around 3:15pm. When you do get here, there's a lot of noise and crowds going on. This was also during Seattle's World Cup crowds, so many bars around the block were broadcasting the games with people gathering to watch and cheer. Many vendors also line up the streets as well, most of what you would see if you go to similar events like Bite of Seattle or even the Georgetown Carnival. This particular fest had a big salmon BBQ booth from Trident Seafoods which requires tokens you can purchase from the information booth. I saw the longest lines for there in particular. Besides that, I didn't see much seafood for this year. I ended up not doing the salmon BBQ, and the vendors were mostly what I've seen before in other events, so I mostly relied on the surrounding Ballard businesses for dinner and my matcha fix. I will say Built to Spill was actually really good despite indie rock not being my type of music, and my friends made my experience here better. This is an all-right event for me in particular, but I might still come back next year for the music acts.

Nitewave band headliner which is always fun…read more Lively with food trucks. We went on Friday so none of the artsy stuff and the Salmon Bake were on. Ballard is always fun to visit and this event is always fun to go to.

I can't wait for this, personally!…read more This will be the biggest and best year yet for the Festival. A massive amount of interesting art, four hours each night of live performances, and a kick-ass afterparty each night that goes to 4:00 am. For $20 (advance) or $25 (door) for all of the above, it's hard to beat this kind of value for your entertainment dollar. Plus, the Festival offers the best people watching of the year. Seriously. - Clayton Hibbert - Artistic Director, Seattle Erotic Art Festival

Hey, this thing was fun! Even if we went on the Sunday,…read morewhich is the free, low-rent version of the other two days, The Seattle Erotic Art Festival had a lot of stuff to look at. So many weiners! oh my. Plus, it inspired a lot of hot making out between me and my lady. Hooray!

If you are looking for a free holiday event to do in downtown Seattle this is worth checking out…read more It's inside, warm and dry. I would not come here solely for this event, but I would add it on to something you are already doing in Seattle. If you come on Sunday you might be able to score free street parking, but this is challenging. There is a Starbucks inside, places to sit and a bathroom. I have seen much bigger and impressive displays in other cities, but I am certain people worked hard to make these happen. We waited in a long line, but it was a good chance to visit and socialize with our group. You do stand the whole time so beware for those that this is difficult for. When you finally get to the entrance there were some people passing out free candy canes. This year there are only a few houses, but 2 of them are fantastic and photo worthy. The theme is this year is "Toy Shop Time Machine". It supports Breakthrough T1D. You can certainly take your time looking at the gingerbread houses and take photos and videos, but the actual time needed to walk thru is very small, its the line waiting that takes forever.

While the gingerbread creations are amazing, and awe-inspiring, the lines can be long. Too long for…read morethe quick visit, to be honest. But the young employees handing out mini candy canes are kind and full of smiles.

The Dragon Fest was once a day time summer event, focused on the Chinatown portion. Because of…read moreCOVID this year, it's instead evolved into a day and night C-ID Night Market, representing all of Chinatown-International District - an 8-hour event from 1pm to 9pm. I must say I am impressed with the turnout. While it has always been well attended, we arrived at 8:50pm, expecting to see a mostly closed street fair. Instead, all the booths are still hopping. Shoppers are shopping, and eaters are ordering food and drinks. There may have been such a HUGE turnout that the food lines were very long. When we arrived so late, the vendors were still merrily cooking while some food trucks had "sold out" stickers on selected items. How exciting for them to make up for the losses during COVID closures. As this is a C-ID market, the crowds gravitating towards the booths that sold cute Asian themed items, east Asian to be exact. Food choices were also predominately Asian, including SE Asian. I am not complaining. Hehe. The food truck that caught my attention is YS Street Food Group selling their Sizzling Squid at $12. I also bought a Thai Iced Tea at $4. It's been at least 2 years since I had their well marinating tongue numbing mala squid. It's also very tender. I love it! Folks were buying 3 or more of them! Their Thai iced tea is quite good too, not too sweet and flavorful. Even though we just had a big dinner, we managed to consume more. LOL!

For what could have become a hectic food festive the people who organized the event did a great…read morejob. There were performances every 30 minutes and the groups that performed clearly practiced and put on a show. There were a lot of places to eat and the food walk that offered $3 menu options were awesome. I was so happy to be able to try places like Tai tung and kau kau bbq which were places on my list. There were a lot of vendors and stalls and I was super impressed by the dragon dances! One thing I will say is I think they would do a lot better if they put their informational booth more prominently as a lot of people asked me where to get the maps and food walk pamphlets I was looking at in passing. Overall will be back next year!

Wow! What a lovely day. Pack with a lot of patience because parking was tough. We arrive not that…read morelate, but ut took us a bit yo get to a lot even when we already got a map for the available parkings. Slow movement but we got there.Some stress are closed. There are lots and lots of booths. Plenty of things to see, purchase, and eat along. We had some dumplings, lactose free dole (yaaay!), and cotton candy. Everything was great! I wanted some BBQ but lines were huge!!! We lost an hour for the cotton. Candy. Kids were playing in the meantime, but I suggest to keep an eye because there's gazillions of people! It is a fair!

Salmon Days!! Always a fun time while we watch our salmon friends move through the area (and you…read morecan eat them). This is the first year I've got in many, many years and I'm glad that I did. Like any other festival that shuts down a large area, the parking is pretty crazy. I got there nice and early to find a good spot and walked about a mile. Overall good selection of vendors! Most of them were artisanal and not something you can buy from a direct-from-China shop. The food court had a lot of great options, and, of course the Kiwanis salmon BBQ. They also had a large field section with games for the kiddos and a water dog competition! There were lots of salmon going through the ladder, so that was nice to watch for awhile. Overall Salmon Days is a great festival to get out and do something a little different!

We attended the Fremont Fair today and had a lovely time. The weather was beautiful and we arrived…read moreearly before the crowds, but made sure to stay for the parade in the afternoon. Between all the amazing vendors, the incredible food options, live music and street performers, the Art Cars and everything else to see and do, the time just flew right by. This is definitely one of the better festivals we have attended. It's dog friendly and family friendly and completely free. Parking is probably the only negative thing and if you don't mind the walk, you should be able to find some parking in a neighboring residential area. We definitely got our 10,000 steps in today and I would absolutely come back again and again.

I have been coming to the Fremont Fair for decades. It is still one of my favorite fairs to visit…read moreevery year. My agenda is likely different from many folks. I don't come on Saturday anymore since everyone is there for the Solstice parade. It is borderline insane for those who drive there and need to find parking. My routine: - I arrive midday on Sunday, typically about 3pm. This gives me three hours at the fair. Many folks are beginning to leave by then. Parking is slightly easier to find even if we need to loop a time or two. - Visit the art cars. This is my absolute favorite at the Fremont Fair. They are insanely fun. My favorite is from 10+ years ago. A sedan is fully covered with Big Mouth Billy Bass with lobsters on top that are synced up to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. I am sure I have a video somewhere. - Stroll the many blocks of the fair, exploring the booths. I go to many fairs. I recognize most vendors going to the same fairs. Fremont Fair is still able to surprise me with new-to-me booths. It is why I return year after year. - Look for free swags. Many community booths give free swags. I look for the cute items that a child might like so I can give those swags to teachers as classroom rewards. - Free food sampling - We enjoy buying new-to-us foods. - Skip the food booths, mostly. Once upon a time, food booths were the source to find unusual eats or to have a small bite. We stop eating from food booths when they became more expensive than going to a restaurant. Sorry, not sorry. We support the local restaurants in the neighborhood instead. We still look, but it is uncommon for us to find something we don't already know. - When all is done, take a stroll along ship canal. It is both peaceful (for us) and chaotic (for the vendors packing up and/or taking down their booths). It is part entertainment seeing the staff direct traffic. For this year's fair, the highlight is once again the art cars with the spaceship car. Inter Milan gave away blue ice cream, while a Raspados Del Sur gave away their excess fruits after the fair ended. It was awesome! Of course, I bought items and enjoyed music from the stages, too.

What a wonderful annual event celebrating an era and ethnicity! Poulsbo is normally a small yet…read moreadorable "Norwegian themed" town that has deep roots in this culture and is doing everything it can to keep the traditions tied to it alive. This VikingFest occurs yearly in May and involves the entire town. The people are kind and the foods are fabulous. We tried 4 different meat pies and can't tell you which we liked best! It was set up perfectly with the carnival and rides set away from the entertainment, craft, and food vendors that were located near the marina, which kept the lines down. We even attended the Lion's fundraiser Pancake Breakfast on Sunday! It was great. Yummy pancakes, eggs, sausage, etc.! All breakfast funds are going towards the Lion's scholarship. (I was a recipient back when I attended college in the Dark Ages, so please help out this group if/when you can!) Highly recommend this festival that runs Friday afternoon through Sunday.

I love Viking Fest! The weekend is a fun time and no matter whatever day you go, you'll likely…read moreenjoy yourself. Not only do you get to explore all the little shops in downtown Poulsbo, there are many little vendors set up along the waterfront. They range from the same old people that show up at every festival in Kitsap to people specializing in things like drinking horns. They have a carnival ride area that runs throughout the weekend. On Saturday during the festival there is a parade that is a lot of fun to watch. The "vikings" may not be the most authentic, but it is a lot of fun. There is a viking village where you can learn from the people that staff it and are set up in tents and wearing traditional clothing. The stage is filled with all sorts of entertainment throughout the weekend.