Ah, summer in the South Sound. A time for baseball, camping, riding bikes, climbing trees, cooking out. Time for walking beaches and hiking mountains. A time to eat bear stew in McCleary, race boats in Olympia and geek out to world music in Tacoma’s Wright Park. That’s right, it’s festival season, when you can find all the fun, food and freakiness your gaunt, pale Northwest ass can handle — and more. Because you can’t catch them all, we’ve chosen the shindigs you won’t want to miss.
McCleary Bear Festival
July 10-12
Thirty minutes west of Olympia, McCleary is a little town with a big tradition. In the late 1950s, bears were so prolific here that they had become pests. After hibernation, the bears would gorge on the cambium layers of young second-growth trees, killing the trees and fattening the bears. The McCleary Bear and Second Growth festival began in 1958 as a fun way of regulating the pesky bear population. Today, the tradition remains as alive as it is strange, serving bear stew to around 12,000 people. mcclearybearfestival.org
Old Town Blues Festival
Saturday, July 11
Benefitting the Breast Cancer Awareness Center, the Tacoma Old Town Blues festival unites great music with great scenery in one of T-town’s loveliest spots. Centered around Old Town Park, this year’s event will feature 15 bands on six different stages. Shows on the Old Town Park main stage from noon until 6 p.m. will be free for all ages. Other shows cost $5, and $20 buys a whole-day pass. The 21+ crowd can enjoy brews with their blues late into the night. tacomaoldtownbluesfest.net
Art on the Ave
Sunday, July 12
Sixth Avenue is pretty tame these days. (No one calls the Taco Bell “Ghetto Bell” anymore.) But the street will be as wild and wooly as ever this Sunday. In a good way. This year’s Art on the Ave will feature live music on two stages, a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a fashion show, a car show, bitchin’ vendors, great food, and more wacky South Sounders than you can shake an incense stick at. artontheave.org
Capital Lakefair
July 15-19
Olympia is smaller than Seattle, and its lakes are smaller than seas, so it makes sense that Olympia’s Lakefair isn’t quite the spectacle Seattle’s Seafair is. Even so, Olympia’s Lakefair is one heck of a hoedown. After 51 years, this festival has grown to include all of the pomp, pageantry and play we expect from a classic American celebration: a parade, a queen, a car show, boat races, fireworks and, of course, a Neil Diamond tribute band. lakefair.org
Vashon Island Strawberry Festival
July 17-19
You don’t need a special reason to spend a summer day on Vashon Island. Vashon is reason enough. But for three days in July there’s even more reason than usual to hop on the Rhododendron (or whatever decrepit bathtub happens to be on duty) and sail to that bucolic other world. Celebrating its 100th anniversary, this year’s Strawberry Festival will commemorate the past while looking toward the future. With three parades, music, dances, a beer garden, over 175 vendors and, yes, strawberries, there’s much to look forward to. vashonchamber.com
Ethnic Fest
July 25-26
The South Sound population is spread so far and wide it’s easy to forget how incredibly diverse we are. Thankfully, Tacoma Metro Parks reminds us each summer with Ethnic Fest, a multicultural gala in beautiful Wright Park. Few events are this educational, fun and tasty, with music, dancing, crafts and food from all around the South Sound globe. Parents, bring the kids for the sights, sounds, workshops, and magic shows. metroparkstacoma.org
Urban Arts Festival
Saturday, Aug. 1
Every year the Urban Arts Festival is different — and this year’s no different. Organizer Johanna Gardner has put together one of the most exciting formats yet. Since Hotrod-a-Rama is taking a hiatus this year, Gardner has teamed up with the Lifters Car Club and The Swiss Pub to stage their own car party at 19th and Jefferson in downtown Tacoma. Provocatively titled Iron vs. Art, the 11 a.m-9 p.m. schedule will feature live music, DJs, vendors, painting, and glass blowing juxtaposed with badass cars. tacomaurbanart.com
Proctor Arts Fest
Saturday, Aug. 1
With the Proctor Farmer’s Market in full swing, summer Saturdays in Proctor are as wholesome as T-town gets. And when Proctor Arts Fest adds to the usual goodness, it’s downright Mayberry. With live music, craft booths, loads of kids’ activities and the usual treat and vegetable selection at the Market — you’ll find yourself whistling like Sherriff Andy on a picnic. proctorartsfest.com
Morton Loggers Jubilee
Aug. 6-9
Urbanites needing a dose of good old-fashioned, small-town fun shouldn’t miss the Morton Loggers Jubilee. Morton, a town of about 1,100 on highway 12 near Mount Rainier, lies at the fringes of the South Sound region and light years distant from the culture of the Interstate 5 corridor. A list of events says it all: queen coronation; carnival; lawnmower races; loggers’ breakfast; bed races; Grand Parade; the Main Street Dance; and the granddaddy of them all — the 2009 Jubilee Logging Show at Jubilee Arena. loggersjubilee.com