Arts & Entertainment

Whether you’re looking to be entertained or enlightened, Gig Harbor Now covers fun and informational events taking place in the community.

Harbor Happenings: Lighted car parade heads host of holiday events

Dec 12, 2023 | By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

Santa’s going to be busy this week, making several stops around town.

Jennifer Preston: Presence, not presents

Dec 06, 2023 | By: Jennifer Preston

I don’t need to tell you that holidays whip us into a frenzied state. For a time of year dedicated to bonhomie brimming with sparkling frivolity and wishes for peace, this season can be downright overwhelming. The seasonal focus on gifting also has a tremendous impact on the environment. Christmas alone accounts for a 25-30%

Harbor Happenings: Lighted boat parade brightens up the bay

Dec 06, 2023 | By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

Holiday happenings are in full swing this week, with music concerts, cultural celebrations, photos and cookies with Santa, and lights – boats bedecked in holiday lights cruising the bay and the lighting of a menorah in Skansie Park. The annual lighted boat parade, sponsored by the Gig Harbor Yacht Club, sets sail Saturday, Dec. 9.

Christmas tree ceremony flips the switch on the holiday season

Dec 05, 2023 | By: Julie Warrick Ammann

An estimated crowd of more than 4,000 helped kick off the 2023 holiday season over the weekend at the annual Gig Harbor Tree Lighting in Skansie Brothers Park. A furry green pot-bellied critter named Grinch was the first of several notable characters to make an appearance at the event. According to Gig Harbor Police, there

Gig Harbor Now and Then: Here’s where locals got their turkeys in the 1940s

Dec 04, 2023 | By: Greg Spadoni

In a seasonal version of Gig Harbor Now and Then, our last question concerned a turkey farm on the Peninsula in the 1940s. Question: Where was Slawson’s Turkey Farm located? Answer: On Burnham Drive, on the very spot now occupied by Sun Outdoors Gig Harbor, a recreational vehicle park. Ellwel and Charlotte Slawson owned a

Grinch moves from Rosedale to Skansie Park

Nov 29, 2023 | By: Chapin Day

On Monday, Mary Godwin-Austen suddenly interrupted her brisk morning walk along Harborview. She’d seen an old friend. On a roof top. The Grinch. A Who-ville House relic High overhead, three Gig Harbor Public Works employees, two on hydraulic bucket trucks, one clinging to the shingles, toiled to install a new addition to the Skansie Park

Harbor Happenings: City flips the holiday lights on this week

Nov 28, 2023 | By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

The holiday season hits high gear this week with the lighting of the city’s holiday tree in Skansie Brothers Park at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2. Santa arrives on a fire truck at 5:30 p.m. The event includes live music, craft vendors, cookies and cocoa. Festivities continue until about 7 p.m. Harbor WildWatch will host

Annual Turkey Trot fights hunger

Nov 25, 2023 | By: Julie Warrick Ammann

Dinosaurs, turkeys and tutus were among the colorfully styled ensembles runners sported as they gobbled up the road competing in the Gig Harbor Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. Now an annual tradition, the Turkey Trot began in 2002 with just 15 friends, family and patients of Dr. Tim Holmes, an area chiropractor. Today, more than

Thanksgiving table settings add to the charm of this food-centered holiday

Nov 22, 2023 | By: Marsha Hart

Despite the chatter in some social media groups that the current generation doesn’t want to register for china when they get engaged or married, or inherit any of the fine dining sets from family members, some Gig Harbor families set their table with china every Thanksgiving holiday. Each year, Kathy Fox of Gig Harbor sets

Day Tripper: Issaquah is so much more than a big box store

Nov 22, 2023 | By: Mary Williams

Gas prices are sky high, and a night in a hotel is approaching astronomically expensive. So, for the foreseeable future, I imagine many of you are going to find yourselves taking day trips rather than the road trip vacations we’ve grown to love. This beautiful region in which we live is ripe with opportunities to