What's on in Seattle, United States through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Winter storms and pass closures (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Winter storms and pass closures (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))

Peak crowds — Cherry blossom on the UW Quad, Spring break in United States

• Nature

  Cherry blossom on the UW Quad

  18 Mar – 10 Apr · usuallyCrowded

  Thirty Yoshino trees on the University of Washington quadrangle peak in the last ten days of March most years, and the campus fills for the week it lasts.

Peak crowds — Cherry blossom on the UW Quad, Skagit Valley tulips

• Nature

  Skagit Valley tulips

  1–30 AprWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  The commercial bulb fields an hour north of the city run all April, usually peaking in the middle two weeks. The fields are working farms and the roads around them jam solid at weekends. Source ↗

Still on: Cherry blossom on the UW Quad (18 Mar – 10 Apr (usually))

Busy — Seattle International Film Festival

• Festival

  Seattle International Film Festival

  8–26 May · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  Eleven days of screenings across a dozen city venues in the middle of May, and the one stretch of the year Seattle's cinemas queue down the block. Weekend tickets for the bigger titles go before the festival opens. Source ↗

• Festival

  Northwest Folklife

  22–31 May · usuallyMajor festival

  Four free days at Seattle Center over Memorial Day weekend, several hundred acts and no headliners. It is the unofficial start of the dry half of the year. Source ↗

• Season

  Junuary

  25 May – 4 Jul · usuallyFog seasonRisk

  The local name for the grey, cool weeks that sit on the city between late May and the Fourth of July, when the marine layer refuses to lift and everyone insists summer starts later here.

Peak crowds — Fremont Solstice Parade, Summer break in United States

• Nature

  Salmon at the Ballard Locks

  15 Jun – 20 Sep · usuallyWildlife season

  Sockeye run through the fish ladder in early summer, chinook and coho into September, and the viewing windows below the locks are free and busy. Numbers vary wildly year to year. Source ↗

• Festival

  Fremont Solstice Parade

  15–22 Jun · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The Saturday nearest the solstice, and the one parade with rules against motors, logos and printed words of any kind. The body-painted cyclists ride ahead of it and the bridges into Fremont clog from late morning. Source ↗

Still on: Junuary (25 May – 4 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Mount Rainier wildflowers, Seafair

• Season

  The dry months

  5 Jul – 15 Sep · usuallyDry season

  The rain effectively stops after the Fourth of July and holds off until well into September. Everything outdoors in this city is scheduled around those ten weeks.

• Nature

  Mount Rainier wildflowers

  15 Jul – 20 Aug · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  Paradise and Sunrise flower for about a month once the snowpack finally clears, usually from mid-July. Timed entry applies to the park in summer and the meadows are strictly stay-on-the-path.

• Festival

  Seafair

  28 Jul – 9 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Hydroplane racing on Lake Washington and the Blue Angels overhead on the first weekend of August. The I-90 bridge closes for the air show and the whole east side plans around it. Source ↗

Still on: Junuary (25 May – 4 Jul (usually)), Salmon at the Ballard Locks (15 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Mount Rainier wildflowers, Seafair

• Hazard

  Wildfire smoke

  1 Aug – 20 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  Late summer smoke from fires in eastern Washington, Oregon or British Columbia settles into the basin and can hold for days. It is the one thing that spoils the best weather of the year here. Source ↗

• Festival

  Bumbershoot

  5–6 SepMajor festivalCrowded

  The city's Labor Day weekend arts and music festival at Seattle Center, rebuilt smaller and stranger than its stadium-era self. It closes the summer the way Folklife opens it. Source ↗

Still on: Salmon at the Ballard Locks (15 Jun – 20 Sep (usually)), The dry months (5 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Mount Rainier wildflowers (15 Jul – 20 Aug (usually)), Seafair (28 Jul – 9 Aug (usually))

Peak crowds — Bumbershoot, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Salmon at the Ballard Locks (15 Jun – 20 Sep (usually)), The dry months (5 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Wildfire smoke (1 Aug – 20 Sep (usually)), Bumbershoot (5–6 Sep)

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Fall colour in the Arboretum

  10 Oct – 10 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  The Washington Park Arboretum and the Japanese Garden turn through late October, usually a week or two after the maples in the Cascade passes. Rain takes the leaves down fast once it starts.

Busy — Thanksgiving break in United States

• Hazard

  Winter storms and pass closures

  1 Nov – 28 Feb · usuallyStorm seasonClosures

  Atmospheric rivers bring wind, flooding and power cuts through the dark months, and Snoqualmie and Stevens close for hours at a time for avalanche control. Snow in the city itself is rarer and worse. Source ↗

Still on: Fall colour in the Arboretum (10 Oct – 10 Nov (usually))

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Winter storms and pass closures (1 Nov – 28 Feb (usually))