Arts & Entertainment Community

Harbor Happenings | Film festival, Chuseok and more

Posted on September 22nd, 2026 By: Charlee Glock-Jackson

Enjoy nearly 90 films at the Gig Harbor Film Festival, Thursday through Sunday (Sept. 24 through 27) at the Galaxy Theaters in Uptown.

The lineup includes documentaries, features, shorts and narrative films, workshops, parties and visits from more than 60 filmmaker teams.

Read Gig Harbor Now’s preview of the festival here.

Read about the opening night headline film, “The Big Cheese,” here.

For a story about “Man or Mountain,” about the man who refused to leave Mount St. Helens before its 1980 eruption, go here.

General admission tickets cost $50 and VIP passes are $500. Get them here.

Chuseok Festival

Celebrate the autumn full moon from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the annual Chuseok Festival at Skansie Brothers Park.

The festival includes traditional Korean dance and music performances, a K-song and talent contest, lotus lantern making and demonstrations of traditional rice cake-making with free samples. The Asia Pacific Cultural Center sponsors the festival. Vendors will be on hand, selling Korean food and treats.

The fifth annual APCC Korean ChuSeok Festival at the Skansie Brothers Park on Sept. 27, 2025.

Block Party

North Harborview Drive will close from 2 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25, for the Hidden Harbor Block Party. Billed as a celebration of summer’s end, it’s open to all ages, with music by Stevenson Brook, wine and beer gardens and more. RSVP here.

Cocktails and Fishtales

Learn how the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife uses transplanted mussels to monitor pollution during Harbor WildWatch’s Cocktails and Fishtales event at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Ocean5, 5268 Point Fosdick Dr. NW. Marine biologist Danielle Nordstrom is the featured speaker. It’s free to Harbor WildWatch members, with a $10 suggested donation for non-members. No reservations are necessary. The event will also be livestreamed on the WildWatch Facebook page starting at 6 p.m.

Humanities Washington lecture

Onur Bakiner, professor and director of the Technology Ethics Initiative at Seattle University, will discuss “Power and Politics in the Age of AI” at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Nichols Community Center, 690 Ninth Ave. on Fox Island. Bakiner explore the ways that AI companies are stifling competition, threatening jobs and shaking up society – and how people can fight back and use this new technology as a tool. The free discussion is sponsored by Humanities Washington.

Marching band festival

High school bands from around the state will perform at the Peninsula Classic Marching Festival on Saturday, Sept 26, at Roy Anderson Field, 14105 Purdy Dr. NW. Gates open at 9 a.m. and performances begin at 11 a.m. Tickets are $15 general admission; $10 for kids 5-17, seniors military and first responders, free for students with ASB.

Gig Harbor Maritime Parade on Saturday, June 1, 2024.

Seafaring Saturday

Shipwright Riley Hall will lead tours of the purse seiner Shenandoah and talk about the Anatomy of a Wooden Boat at noon Saturday, Sept. 26, during Harbor History Museum’s Seafaring Saturday. Hall led the restoration work on the Shenandoah. Free with museum admission.

Farm tour

The 20th annual Key Peninsula Farm Tour is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 26 and 27. Visit KP farms, meet farm animals and get a behind-the-scenes look at farming and homesteading activities. On Saturday, the Longbranch Improvement Club, 4312 Key Peninsula Highway SW, will host quilting, knitting and crochet activities, an antique car display, vendors selling food, jewelry, soaps, plants and other hand-made items, and live music by Mike Parsons.

Cider Swig

This year’s Cider Swig is from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 at the LeMay America’s Car Museum, 2702 D Street in Tacoma. More than 30 cideries, meaderies, wineries, distilleries and breweries will participate in the fundraiser for the Greater Gig Harbor Foundation’s environmental education programs. Also featured: crafts, carnival games, apple-launching and live music. Tickets start at $28.52 here.

Farmers market

The last two farmers markets of 2026 take place from 4 to 7 p.m. the next two Tuesdays, Sept. 22 and Sept. 29, in the parking lot at B’s Bagels, 3308 Uddenberg Lane. Shoppers will find seasonal produce, pasta and sauces, fresh local seafood and other locally made goods.

Write in the Harbor

Registration is open for Write in the Harbor, the annual writing event presented by Tacoma Community College’s Gig Harbor branch. This year’s gathering is Nov. 6 and 7 and features author Suzanne Morrison and a variety of writing workshops. Get information here.

Fun and games

Hop Pharm, 3216 Judson St., hosts a drag show by Pierce the Peninsula at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22. Admission costs $15. Hop Pharm has bingo at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30.

Ocean5, 5268 Point Fosdick Dr. NW, has bingo at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Let’s Get Quizzical trivia at 6 p.m. Thursdays. Sunday, Sept. 27, is Salsa and Bachata Dance Night, with doors open at 6:30 p.m.

The Beer Vault, 14004 Purdy Dr. NW., hosts trivia at 6:30 p.m. Thursdays. The Vault will also host a watch party for the Seattle Seahawks’ game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Sept. 27. Kickoff is at 10 a.m.

Hidden Harbor Wine Library, 8805 N. Harborview Dr. Suite 204 hosts bingo every Monday and canasta every Thursday, both starting at 4:30 p.m.

The Float has karaoke from 8 p.m. to midnight Fridays at 14511 Sherman Dr. NW in Purdy.

Live music

Kimball Coffeehouse hosts an open mic every Thursday, with sign-ups at 5:30 p.m. and music starting at 6.

Ten Strings and a Box play covers of Neil Young, James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Springsteen and others at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, at Olalla Winery. Tickets are $20 here.

At the movies

The Flashback Cinema movie at the Galaxy Theatres in Uptown on Wednesday, Sept. 23, is “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” showing at 6:30 p.m. On Sunday, Sept. 27, it’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” – the conclusion of Peter Jackson’s three-part rendition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic novels. Showtime Sunday is 12:45 p.m. Flashback tickets are just $7.

The Galaxy’s Friday Night Fright film Sept. 25 is “Silver Bullet” (1985) with a werewolf terrorizing a small city. Showtime is 8:45 p.m. Fright Night movies are just $6.

The 1942 film “Cat People” is the Galaxy Classic movie, showing at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28. It’s the story of an American man who marries an immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland’s fables if they are intimate together. Galaxy Classics are just $5.

Civic engagement

The Gig Harbor City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28 at the Civic Center on Grandview Street. Tentative agenda items include a public hearing on the city’s revenue sources and approval of a resolution designating a residential target for Multi Family Tax Exemptions (MFTE).