Geek About Town: June
Summer is here with plenty of geeky and interesting things to do in Seattle this June!
Thursday to Sunday, June 1 to June 11: First day of the 43rd Annual Seattle International Film Festival
- Schedule, locations, and tickets vary; take a look at the schedule here.
- Seattle International Film Festival is one of the most highly attended film festivals in the United States. It shows more than 400 films from 80 countries in 25 days.
Thursday, June 1: Ali Noorani: There Goes the Neighborhood
- Starts at 7 p.m. — Elliott Bay Book Company in Capitol Hill
- Free event
- Ali Noorani, the Executive Director of the National Immigration Forum (an advocacy organization promoting the value of immigrants and immigration) will discuss his new book, There Goes the Neighborhood: How Communities Overcome Prejudice and Meet the Challenge of American Immigration.
Thursday June 1: Burke Trivia Night
- Starts at 8 p.m. — College Inn Pub in Seattle’s University District
- $5 per team
- The Burke Museum presents a monthly pub quiz for science buffs, culture gurus, and museum lovers on the first Tuesday evening of each month. Bring your friends to the College Inn Pub and test your knowledge of the natural world.
Friday, June 2: R.E.M. vs. INXS: A Tribute Night Benefiting Planned Parenthood
- Starts at 9 p.m. — Highdive in Seattle’s Fremont area
- $10 tickets
- Kirby Krackle, a nerd rock band from Seattle, and other bands will participate in a tribute performance that will benefit Planned Parenthood.
Saturday, June 3: Wonder Woman Day
- Starts at 1 p.m. — Barnes & Noble in Tukwila
- Free event
- Dress up as your favorite superhero or super villain as we celebrate Wonder Woman! GeekGirlCon will hold a panel discussion during this event, and there will be comic book giveaways (while supplies last). Check out the schedule here.
Saturday, June 3: Seattle Rock Orchestra Social Club
- Starts at 8 p.m. — Seattle’s Great Hall
- Tickets start at $12
- The Seattle Rock Orchestra Social Club takes the traditional orchestral model and turns it on its head. Founded by Artistic Director Scott Teske, this volunteer community ensemble is known as the coolest orchestra in town. For their season finale, they’ll perform the music of Radiohead. See one of their performances below.
Sunday, June 4: Families of Color Seattle Arts Festival
- From 2 to 5 p.m. — Historic Washington Hall
- Tickets start at $10, but families can register for a free ticket here.
- GeekGirlCon is partnering with Families of Color Seattle for a festival that showcase performances with Massive Monkees (see a video of the group below!) and Northwest Tap Collection.
Sunday, June 4: Comics Dungeon Ladies Book Club
- Starts at 6 p.m. — Wallingford
- Free event
- This ladies and female-identified only book club is hosted through Seattle’s Comics Dungeon and is dedicated to fostering a safe space for women to discuss comics. June’s book is Space Battle Lunchtime. Earth baker Peony gets the deal of a lifetime when she agrees to be a contestant on the Universe’s hottest reality TV show, Space Battle Lunchtime! But that was before she knew that it shoots on a spaceship and her alien competitors don’t play nice.
Monday, June 5: Modern Telescopes, An Elusive Molecule, and the Complexities of Competing Predators
- Doors open at 5 p.m. — Town Hall in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood
- $5 tickets
- For the most part, our universe is a vast mystery, but astrophysicists in the last century have begun filling in the blanks of the universe’s earliest history with the use of modern radio telescopes. Ruby Byrne, a physics graduate student at the University of Washington, will explain how telescopes are providing new clues about the secrets of our universe.
Friday, June 9: GeekGirlCon Board Game Night at Wayward Coffeehouse!
- Starts at 7 p.m. — Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood
- Free event
- Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon game nights with our friends at Wayward, it’s free!
Our event at Wayward Coffeehouse. Image source: Kristine Hassell
Saturday, June 10: Volunteer Park Pride Festival
- Noon to 7 p.m. — Volunteer Park in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood
- Free event
- Experience Seattle Pride’s return to where it all started, on Capitol Hill, with a celebration of LGBTQ arts, performance, and culture! The festival will feature guest speakers from the community, live music, food trucks, and a beer garden!
Saturday, June 10: Summer Reading Kick off
- 2 to 4 p.m. — Burien Library
- Free event
- King County Libraries will have a toy-making workshop and ideaX technology exploration kits for families. Between activities, families can sign up to track reading and earn prizes throughout the summer.
Monday, June 12: Vacation Guide to the Solar System
- Starts at 7:30 p.m. — Town Hall in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood
- $5 tickets
- Are you onboard to join Jeff Bezos as a tourist in outer space? It may take a while to hit the mainstream, but in the meantime, scientists and Intergalactic Travel Bureau members Olivia Koski and Jana Grcevich have teamed up to create an illustrated guide for your trip. Publisher’s Weekly calls it “an ideal introduction to the solar system for younger readers and casual space fans who crave an imaginative trip into the possibilities of real space tourism.”
Friday, June 16: Race, Identity, and Culture in the Pacific Northwest
- Starts at 12 p.m. — Seattle Art Museum
- Free event
- Culture carriers, artists, and historians each share their views on the value of race, identity, and culture in relationship to communal celebrations. What role do ethnic gatherings have in strengthening identity? Panel discussions presented in partnership with Seattle Public Library and Seattle Art Museum.
Saturday, June 17: Lore Podcast Live Seattle
- Starts at 7:30 p.m. — Town Hall in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood
- Tickets start at $25
- Lore is an award-winning podcast that exposes the darker side of history, exploring the people, places, and things we fear the most. Come see Aaron Mahnke live and in-person, along with musical guest Chad Lawson on piano, for a night of brand new stories designed to entertain, educate, and thrill. Because sometimes the truth is more frightening than fiction.
Thursday, June 22: Gamer Grrrls Night Out
- 7 p.m. — Raygun Lounge in Capitol Hill
- Free event
- Every third Thursday, Gamer Grrrls is thrilled to partner with the esteemed Lauren Karp to bring you an inclusive gaming event for all of our amazing trans, LGBTQ, non-binary, and genderqueer folks of all persuasions and identifications, and their friends. There will be a couple of tables reserved for members of this event to play games, be they card, board, or dice games, with one table acting as a rotating beginner’s D&D/RPG table.
Thursday, June 22: Dragapalooza
- 7 to 11 p.m. — Egyptian Theater
- Ticket prices vary, starting at $25
- Seattle PrideFest is excited to announce the addition of Dragapalooza to its Pride Week festivities! Dragapalooza is a live musical concert featuring a cast of international celebrity drag queens singing LIVE with a world-class LIVE band led by Grammy Nominated producer Chris Cox. Current cast includes Sharon Needles, Trixie Mattel, and Robbie Turner.
Friday, June 23: GeekGirlCon Board Game Night at Wayward Coffeehouse!
- Starts at 7 p.m. — Wayward Coffeehouse in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood
- Free event
- Do you love board games and enjoy teaching others how to play? Explore the board/card game hobby and meet folks happy to teach you their favorite board games! Come and play with folks who love playing games. And the best part about the GeekGirlCon game nights with our friends at Wayward: it’s free!
Friday and Saturday June 23 and 24: Atomic Comicon
- 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. — The Tacoma Public Library
- Free event
- Atomic Comicon is a celebration of reading, comics, fandoms, and geek culture at the main branch of Tacoma Public Library. GeekGirlCon staffers will be at the event, so be sure to say hello!
Saturday, June 24: Pridefest
- Noon to 8 p.m. — Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood
- Free event
- A street festival for the community to celebrate Seattle Pride. Join in for music, food vendors, and performances throughout the day.
Saturday, June 24: Madaraka Festival
- Doors open at 7:30 p.m. — MoPOP
- Tickets start at $25
- One Vibe Africa and MoPOP present the fourth Annual Madaraka Festival, a night of music and purpose. Madaraka 2017’s theme is African Music & Fashion featuring performances and a runway fashion show all on one stage. By showcasing African music and fashion in a different light, Madaraka hopes to change the narrative of stereotypes held on these topics.
Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25: Queer Geeks and Gamers Convention
- 5 to 8 p.m. — Seattle Center
- Free event
- GeekGirlCon is partnering at this inaugural event, where you can play console, board, and arcade games. Plus, enjoy a cosplay contest and a party.
Sunday, June 25: Seattle Pride Parade
- Starts at 11 a.m. — starts in Downtown Seattle and ends at Seattle Center
- Free
- Each year Seattle Pride’s parade marches through downtown Seattle to the Seattle Center for a festival. This year’s theme is “indivisible,” because people are stronger together and in numbers. Join downtown for this all-day event.
Friday, June 30: Opening event for David Bowie: Starman
- Starts at 8 a.m. — MoPOP
- $27 tickets , 21+
- Freak out in a moonage daydream and celebrate the rise of Ziggy Stardust at the opening celebration of David Bowie: Starman, featuring 65 photographs by Bowie’s personal photographer Mick Rock.
