Summer festivals include old favorites from Northwest Folklife to Bumbershoot, plus new waterfront concert venues Downtown and in Tacoma

The unofficial start of the summer music season is here — along with what looks to be solid weather for outdoor frolicking. And while the grim reality of Juneuary is still ahead, the promise of listening to live music in the sunshine should be plenty to pull us through a few disappointingly damp days.

The seasonal festivities kick off, as is the local custom, with the Northwest Folklife Festival (May 23 – 26). Now in its 54th year, this reminder of Seattle’s funkier past is still going strong — despite being one of the many Washington arts and culture organizations whose NEA funding was recently terminated. Remarkably, the sprawling Seattle Center fest is still free, though donations are encouraged, especially now.

This year’s cultural theme is ikigai, loosely translated from the Japanese as “a reason to live.” Conceptually, it’s about finding purpose, fulfillment and joy in life. The best way to do that at Folklife is by arriving with no agenda. Pack a water bottle and a couple granola bars and allow yourself to drift from stage to stage, discovering Cuban dancers, Belarusian folk singers, fiddle jams, Polynesian drumming, contradance and Cumbia fusion. (And that’s just Friday.)

Arriving right on the heels of one of the city’s longest-running music festivals is Seattle’s newest: Oodalalee (June 1 – Sept. 27), happening at the revamped Pier 62 on the shiny new Downtown Waterfront. Those of us who’ve been around a while fondly remember attending shows on an older, possibly ricketier Pier 62 for the hugely popular Summer Nights at the Pier series, which ran from 1993 – 2004 and featured artists from Ben Harper to Laurie Anderson to Chris Isaak.

The mellifluously monikered new series comes courtesy of Belltown venue The Crocodile, which has programmed a diverse summerlong mix, starting with a sold-out show by Hermanos Gutiérrez (June 1) and including: a 25th anniversary (!) show by Deltron 3030 (July 19); Astoria alt-folk band Blind Pilot; ABBA homage Gimme Gimme Disco Fest (Sept 13); plus many others.

In Tacoma, another revamped waterfront is welcoming a new outdoor concert series. Dune Peninsula Concerts (with shows June – August) will take place in Point Defiance Park on the site of a formerly toxic slag heap.

Once an EPA Superfund site due to decades of pollution from the ASARCO smelter, the land has been transformed into a completely stunning park (opened in 2019) with killer views of Mount Rainier. It’s named in honor of Tacoma-born author Frank Herbert, whose ecological sci-fi novel Dune was partially inspired by his hometown’s industrial pollution.

Now the Showbox (backed by concert promoter AEG) is bringing a smallish first season of shows to the park, with plans to expand Dune Peninsula Concerts into a regular summer series. (I might’ve named it Summer at the Slag Heap, but that’s just me.) The inaugural run includes country tunes from Sierra Ferrell (July 20), punk rock from Dropkick Murphys (July 24) and Hawaiian reggae/country from Maoli (July 25). 

And yet another new music fest is launching at Remlinger Farms, a working farm and amusement park in Carnation, Wash., that now has an impressive concert venue (opened last summer) nestled among tall trees in the Cascade foothills. It’ll soon house the Psychic Salamander Festival (Sept. 13 – 14), the brain-newt of longtime PNW rock band Modest Mouse, along with local producer STG Presents. The inaugural lineup is an early-’90s indie fever dream, including Modest Mouse, the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, Sleater-Kinney and Yo La Tengo.

Also at Remlinger Farms is the THING Festival, which has a different format this year. You may recall that the fest’s original incarnation was not in Carnation, but rather Port Townsend. After moving the long-weekend event to Remlinger Farms last year, THING will now take place over four consecutive Saturdays in August (Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23). The lineups are bound to beckon Seattleites north, including Father John Misty, Orville Peck, Deep Sea Diver, Terror/Cactus, the Roots, Tune-Yards and Tunde Adebimpe (of TV on the Radio).

There’s perhaps no truer calculus of age than the number of bands you recognize on the poster for the Capitol Hill Block Party (July 19 – 20). For me, that has dwindled to two this year: headliners Thundercat and Anderson .Paak (aka DJ Pee .Wee). That said, this year’s event has made some moves that might suggest a more mature scene: instituting a new age requirement of 21+ and reducing the span from three days to two.

If you’re just starting to ponder Woodland Park’s popular Zoo Tunes concert series, you might be too late — many of the acts in the 41st installment are already sold out, including Elvis Costello and the Imposters, Regina Spektor, Ben Harper and Wilco. But at the time of this writing you can still grab tix for Devo (July 23 – 24) and Japanese Breakfast (Sept. 2 – 3).

On the Eastside, the Marymoor Live concert series (May 27 – Sept. 18) returns with a wide range of bands old, new and in-between, including Drive-By Truckers, Little Feat & the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Iggy Pop, Melissa Etheridge & the Indigo Girls, STRFKR, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Cypress Hill and Smokey Robinson.

In Woodinville, Chateau Ste. Michelle rolls out the heavyweights along with heavy pours. Big names in this year’s summer concert series include James Taylor (May 25 – 26), Earth, Wind & Fire (June 20), Chicago (Aug. 29 – 30) and Jon Batiste (Sept. 10 – 11).

Way farther east, the Gorge Amphitheatre opens its summer concert season this weekend with the 10th annual Outlaw Music Festival (May 25), featuring Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow and other hugely famous performers.

Up north, the Northwest Tune-Up Fest in Bellingham (July 11 – 13) celebrates bikes, beer and bands, including Chet Faker, the Steeldrivers, The Pharcyde and Silversun Pickups. And at Tolt-Macdonald Park in Carnation (what in tarnation is happening in Carnation?), the annual Timber! Outdoor Music Festival (July 24 – 26) promises musicians such as M. Ward, Dehd, Damien Jurado and Adra Boo, as well as guided adventures including glass-blowing, origami making, stargazing and hiking.

And we can’t forget Bumbershoot (Aug. 30 – 31), which after a major regroup and reboot in 2023 is showcasing bigger headliners (and higher ticket prices accordingly). At the 52nd edition of the Seattle Center arts and music festival you’ll find Weezer, Janelle Monáe, Car Seat Headrest, Bright Eyes and Seattle stars like Digable Planets, Murder City Devils and TeZATalks.

Now that all that music is spinning in your head, a quick housekeeping item: Starting next week, this arts and culture newsletter will arrive under a new name. ArtSEA will now be Art x NW, to align with our new television series Art by Northwest (Season 2 coming this summer!). Same content, new name. Thanks for reading!

Brangien Davis is the arts and culture editor at Cascade PBS. Email her at brangien.davis@cascadepbs.org.

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