Arts & Entertainment Community
Harbor Happenings | Summer Art Festival at Sehmel Homestead Park
More than 130 artists and crafts people will sell their work in Sehmel Homestead Park this weekend during Peninsula Art League’s annual Summer Art Festival.
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Booths will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 19, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 20. Painters, potters, wood- and metal-workers, jewelry designers, photographers, glass and basketry artists and more are participating.
Shoppers will find everything from birdhouses crafted from recycled materials, to jewelry of fine gemstones, to garments made from handwoven wool or hand-painted silk, to functional and beautiful ceramic items, to whimsical yard art.
The event also includes also live music, food trucks and plenty of kid-focused activities like art-making projects, glitter tattoos, lawn games and a playground. Local authors and poets will be on hand in the festival’s Literary Corner to talk about their work, and the Gig Harbor Kiwanis will accept donations of non-perishable food.
Free shuttles will run both days from Gig Harbor High School at 4101 Rosedale Drive and from the Franciscan Medical Center at 6401 Kimball Drive (across from the Pierce Transit park-and-ride).The festival is free and family friendly. Click here for more information.

Attendees at the 2024 Summer Art Festival can be seen through a glass creation by Dasein Designs artist Steve Knox. Photo by Carolyn Bick.
‘Good Trouble’ action
Indivisible Gig Harbor will stage “Good Trouble Lives On” gatherings on three local overpasses as part of the National Day of Nonviolent Action from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 17. The organization previously organized anti-Trump administration protests in April and June.
Indivisible asks people to go to a specific overpass based on the first letter of their last names: A to G at 24th Street NW (near PenMet Parks’ recreation center); H to O at Olympic Drive; and P to Z at Wollochet Drive.
The protests take place on the fifth anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and Rep. John Lewis, who referred to his more than 40 lifetime arrests for civil rights activism as “good trouble, necessary trouble.”

The No Kings protest at the corner of Point Fosdick and Olympic drives in Gig Harbor on Saturday, June 14. Photo by Carolyn Bick © Carolyn Bick
Free lunches
The city of Gig Harbor, Food Backpacks 4 Kids and Altrusa are partnering to provide free lunches for children and youth every Tuesday and Thursday through Aug. 28.
Nutritious sack lunches are available from noon until they run out at the Civic Center skate park, 3510 Grandview Street, and the Gig Harbor Library, 4424 Pt. Fosdick Drive. On the Key Peninsula, free lunches are available at Gateway Park, 10405 Highway 302; Home Park, at 17220 8th Ave. Ct.; and at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, 17010 S. Vaughn Road.
Psychedelic Resource Fair
Join educators, healers, artists and advocates on Saturday, July 19, to learn about safe and ethical use of psychedelics. Dubbed a Psychedelic Resource Fair, the event takes place from 9 a.m. to noon at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, 17010 South Vaughn Road. The fair is sponsored by the Key Peninsula Psychedelic Society.
Round Rock Contest
Keep looking for a perfectly round rock to enter in Harbor History Museum’s annual Round Rock Contest. Monetary prizes will be awarded for the five roundest rocks. All entries must be found in Washington state, be naturally formed, and between the sizes of a ping-pong ball and a softball. The museum accepts submissions from July 23 to Aug. 2. Winners will be announced Aug. 8. Download an entry form here.

Round rock winners of the past: first through fifth place rock display at the Harbor History Museum. Photo by Tonya Strickland.
Live music
Gimme Shelter, a Rolling Stones tribute band, plays at the Summer Sounds at Skansie series at 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 15, in Skansie Park. Next week, Seattle-based DJ Mia Maya spins tunes. Summer Sounds concerts are free and family-friendly.
The Locals take the stage at Sehmel Homestead Park at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, as part of PenMet’s Summer Concerts in the Park. Free and family friendly.
The Beer Vault hosts a Boots & Brews line dancing class at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 16. Classes are $15 per person in advance or $20 at the door. Buy tickets here.
The Tri-Cities Steel Band plays the Waterfront Farmers Market at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 17, followed by local favorite Sweet Mary at 3:30 p.m. On market days, free shuttles run on a every 10 to 15 minutes or so from 1 to 6 p.m. from the parking lot at the Church of Latter Day Saints on Rosedale Street, and from the Methodist Church on Pioneer Way.
Also on Thursday, Mark Hurwitz and Gin Creek play the blues at the Uptown Pavilion at 6 p.m.
Two Drifters, a duo featuring Kathryn Claire and Margot Merah, bring their unique music from opposite sides of the world to the Gig Harbor BoatShop at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 19. Claire lives in Portland, Oregon; Merah is based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They met in 2013 at a little pub in Ireland. Tickets are $35. Buy them here.
Roeman and the Whereabouts play at Kimball Coffeehouse at 7 p.m. Friday, July 18. Doors open at 6 p.m. Free and family friendly.
Hidden Valley Wine Library at 8805 N. Harborview, Suite 204, has music by Robbie Vee at 4 p.m. Saturday, July 19.
Also on Saturday at 6 p.m., it’s Boots and Bubbly country line dancing at the Olalla Winery. Admission includes a glass of bubbly. Reserve tickets here.
At the movies
The Summer Fest movie at the Galaxy Theatres in Uptown this week is “Despicable Me 4,” showing at 10 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17. Starting Friday, July 18, it’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” Showtimes are 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, July 18; 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 19 and 20; 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, July 21 and 22. Summer Fest movies are just $2.
Wednesday’s Flashback Cinema movie at the Galaxy is The Muppet Movie, showing at 6 p.m. On Sunday, July 20, the Flashback movie is “Batman Forever” staring Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey. Showtime is at noon.
Civic engagement
Councilwoman Jeni Woock hosts Jeni Listens, Tuesday, July 15 at 10 a.m. at Cutters Point Coffee in Olympic Village.
The Gig Harbor City Council meets for a study session at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 17, to discuss a utility rate study on revenues and rates, and an update to the Council Guidelines document.
The city Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 5 p.m. Thursday to discuss amendments to the city’s Sign Code. The meeting will take place in the council chambers at the Civic Center.
Learn how the city is responding to state-mandated requirements for affordable housing, including a proposed Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, at a Town Hall from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 21, at the Civic Center, 3510 Grandview Street.