Arts & Entertainment Community

Harbor Happenings | Gig Harbor Beer Fest on tap at Uptown

Posted on May 13th, 2025 By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

Beer drinkers, take heed: the 14th annual Gig Harbor Beer Festival takes place from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at the Uptown Pavilion. Fourteen brewers and cider-makers will participate, while local favorites the Shy Boys and My Guilty Pleasure provide music.

Ticket holders can sample libations from:

2 Towns Ciderhouse
7 Seas Brewing Co.
Acorn Brewing
Deep Draft Brewing
Echoes Brewing
Evergreen State Brewing Co.
Fierce County Cider
Ghostfish Brewing
Locust Cider
Narrows Brewing
Ridgeline Brewing
Silver City
Wet Coast Brewing Company
Yonder Cider

Gig Harbor Kiwanis stages the beer festival to fund its Aktion Club for adults with developmental disabilities, blood drives, early childhood educational assistance programs and other programs. Tickets cost $40 each or $35 for those ages 60 and older. Purchase them here.

Local soloist plays with Tacoma Youth Symphony

Gig Harbor High School senior Leah Everling will be the featured soloist with the Tacoma Youth Symphony for its “Magic, Power and New Beginnings” concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 18 at the Rialto Theater in Tacoma.

Everling will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1. Everling has played cello since the second grade. She recently soloed with Bremerton’s West Sound Symphony and placed second at a statewide music competition.

The May 19 program includes Rollo Dilworth’s “I Dream a World” and “When Dreams Take Flight;” Michael Markowski’s “Forever Summer;” Richard Wagner’s “Elsa’s Procession to the Cathedral (from ‘Lohengrin’)” and Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suite.”

Several other Gig Harbor students also play with the Youth Symphony. Purchase tickets here.

Food and diaper drive

VFW Post 1854, based in Gig Harbor, will sponsor a food drive Friday, May 16 to support Nourish Pierce County’s food pantry and mobile food bank.

There’s a special need for canned protein (tuna, salmon, sardines or chicken); canned fruits; peanut butter and kid-friendly items; diapers and baby wipes. Avoid donating expired items or items that are dented, rusted or damaged.

Bring donations to the Eagles Club, 4425 Burnham Drive. Monetary donations are also accepted. Make checks payable to VFW Post 1854 with “Nourish Pierce County Food Drive” on the memo line. Donors can also mail or deliver checks to VFW Post 1854, 4425 Burnham Drive, Gig Harbor, WA. 98332.

Teen dodgeball tournament

PenMet Parks sponsors a dodgeball tournament for teens age 12 to 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17 at Sehmel Homestead Park. Get more information here.

Last weekend for ‘Oliver!’

Peninsula High School’s theater department’s production of “Oliver!” closes this week, with performances on Wednesday through Friday. Buy tickets here.

Live music

The Gin Creek Trio, with Mark Hurwitz, Sheena Denney and Jason Kuykendall, play a mix of blues, jazz, folk and country in the loft at the Olalla Winery at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 16. Reserve tickets here.

Sub Vinyl Jukebox plays at The Float, 14511 Sherman Dr., at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 17,

Kimball Coffeehouse hosts an open mic every Thursday at 6 p.m. Signups start at 5:30 p.m. All varieties of talent are welcome. Kimball is at 6659 Kimball Dr.

At the movies

The Summer Fest Movie at the Galaxy Theatres in Uptown is “Minions: the Rise of Gru” playing at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday May 13; 10 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 14; 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Thursday, May 15. Starting Friday, May 16 it’s “Wonka.” Showtimes are 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, May 16; 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18; 10 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. Monday, May 19 and Tuesday, May 20. Summer Fest movies are just $2.

This week’s Flashback Cinema movie on Wednesday, May 14, is the classic “Wizard of Oz” playing at 12:30 and 6 p.m. On Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 it’s “Labyrinth,” directed by Muppets creator Jim Henson, with David Bowie as The Goblin King. Labyrinth showtimes are 12:30 and 6 p.m. Flashback movies are just $5.

Opera lovers won’t want to miss the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of “Salome” playing at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 17 at the Galaxy. The Met’s take on Strauss’s one-act tragedy features soprano Elza van den Heever as the abused and unhinged antiheroine who demands the head of Jochanaan, sung by baritone Peter Mattei.

Civic engagement

Attorneys from Tacomaprobono will be at the Civic Center on Tuesday, May 13 from 4 to 5 p.m. to give free advice about landlord-tenant issues, family and consumer law issues, eviction and other civil concerns. They’ll also be there Monday, May 19 from 10 a.m. to noon. The Civic Center is located at 3510 Grandview Street.

The Gig Harbor City Council meets for a study session at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 15, at the Civic Center. Discussion topics include a recap of the 2025 legislative session, and a report on water hookups.

The city Planning Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15 at the Civic Center to discuss a climate and resilience policy. City meetings can also be accessed via Zoom.

Gig Harbor City Council member Jeni Woock hosts Jeni Listens Wednesday, May 14 at 11:30 a.m. at Cutter’s Point Coffee in the Olympic shopping center. Woock’s guest is the city’s public works director Jeff Langhelm.