This isn’t even on the list this month, so consider it an extra (a High 6 isn’t really a thing): go eat a pizza at Sig Brewing on Tacoma Ave. We dropped in after hanging out downtown at Tacoma Pride this June and ordered the Lewis Del Mar—green sauce, chicken, pickled jalapeños, mamas lil’ peppers, crema, red onion, and crust that had that good salt and chew.
Tacoma High 5 is our way to nudge you toward what we love about Tacoma, toward 5 things that bring balance to our life in the city. It’s a short list with a commitment to the local—it embraces the season, invites a bit of variety into life, encourages a spirit of exploration and some generosity as well.
Community Event
Sweet Treat
Exploration & Adventure
Local Love
Volunteering & Sharing
This list is about choosing to participate in the place we call home, and it’s about small things that make one day distinct from another so that it becomes part of the story of summer, the kind of time about which you say, “Hey, remember when…” And it’s nothing huge like, “Remember when a tree fell on our kitchen” or “Remember when we went to Bermuda for 3 weeks?” Nope. It’s those small remember-whens, the remember-whens you have about a day when you just stepped outside your routine and lived in the present close to home.
Maybe we’ll see you out there!
Image from ALMA
1. Community Event - Music & Markets
Benefit Concert: Vibrations & Visual for Health & Healing for Aaron Hartzell
Saturday, August 5th
8 pm
Local bands play for a cause and then you get the chance to sing at the karaoke after party. A night out to raise money for a community member struggling with cancer.
Downtown Tacoma Block Party
Sunday, August 6th
12-8 pm
Head downtown between 9th & Broadway for live music, line dancing, food, activities for all ages, comedy, arts, and even a pop-up by the Tacoma Sunday Market hosted by Downtown Tacoma Partnership. Visit the event page for the performance schedule.
Dusty’s Hideaway Yard Market
Sunday, August 20th
4-9 pm
Local vendors and makers market at one of Tacoma’s best spots for tots, onion rings, slushies, and burgers/sandwiches. It’s nice! Hanging out at Dusty’s is like hanging out in someone’s back yard, but with service.
2. Sweet Treat - Blueberries for free at Charlotte’s Blueberry Park
Open 7 Days a Week
Sunrise to Sunset
Picking Season: July-September
Have you made friends with Charlotte’s Blueberry Park yet? If you’re cozy with the park already you might know 10 of the 20 acres are wetlands, and over 3,000 blueberry bushes of 5 different varieties grow on a large part of the remaining 10 acres.
Berries are free for the picking! Just like a true friend, Metro Parks doesn’t use pesticides or chemicals on this crop we all share. Take a pal, or a parent, or a first date. Bring a pail or a bowl or just your hungry paws. And keep your eye out for the Community Garden too.
Note: When our Abode office volunteered at the park earlier this summer we noticed there are no restrooms. Figured it would be friendly to share this knowledge before we send you on your way.
3. Exploration & Adventure - Porchfest
Saturday, August 5th
Set 1: 1-2:30 pm
2:30 pm parade
Set 2: 3:30-5 pm
Images from Tacoma Porchfest
Tacoma Porchfest is over 80 bands on 55 porches! This free music festival can be all about exploration and adventure. If there isn’t one particular band you just absolutely have to see, you can go where the streets and sounds lead you. Explore (and parade!) the Central Tacoma neighborhood while listening to bands play from the porches of ordinary/extraordinary Tacoma neighbors who offered up their front stoops for the sake of the festival.
Porchfest Realm
North: 6th Ave, South: S. 12th
East: Sprague, West: Alder/Oakes
Two Zones: “We separated the neighborhood into two sets, so people can see the most bands! Set 1 is on the eastside from 1 - 2:30pm and Set 2 is on the westside from 3:30 - 5pm. In between we have a people moving parade with 3 bands going from the Ferry Street Community Garden to the Unity church parking lot where we have a "main stage" and food trucks.” - Porchfest Page
Who’s playing? And when? Check out the Porchfest Event Guide. Want to support the bands? They’d love that!
Wondering if you’ll like it? Read a few of their online articles.
4. Local Love - Subscribe to Grit City Magazine
You can follow Grit City Magazine on the socials for news and perspectives and nice photos. Go ahead! But if you can find the funds, each dollar towards a hard copy is worth it. Reading the hard copy invites me deeper into Tacoma. I learn things about Tacoma’s past and present. I feel things about its people, and I usually laugh at something silly or irreverent. And there’s no scrolling, no urge to skim and move right along. Big, colorful, thoughtfully designed pages. Time for a cup of coffee and an article and a pause at the turning of the real, actual page. Relief. Every issue includes a poster by a local artist, so if you have proclivity for collecting, you’ll fit right in.
Grit City Magazine publishes 4 times each year. With a subscription you’ll pay $23 every 3 months.
5. Volunteering & Sharing - 2 August Opportunities
Image from Oscar’s Enemies July 2023 Manitou Pick-up
Oscar’s Enemies Litter Pick-up Day
Saturday, August 19th
8:45 am sign-in
9-11 am litter pick-up
11 am raffle
Location TBD
Oscar’s Enemies is meeting up for another monthly Tacoma neighborhood litter pick-up and you are invited! Register here, bring a litter-grabber (we recommend a 5-gallon bucket too) and Oscar’s enemies will provide the rest: gloves, garbage bags, organization, raffle prizes, a truck to round up garbage as you go, and even refreshing drinks at the end. Maybe we’ll see you there sometime!
Image from 253 Club YWCA
Menstrual Product & Hygiene Drive with 253 Club
Wednesday, August 30th
5:30 - 8 pm
The Red Hot - 2914 6th Ave, Tacoma
The YWCA Pierce County’s 253 Club partners with The Red Hot for a menstrual product and assorted hygiene product drive so you can support the community (menstrual products especially are both expensive AND necessary!) while also eating hot dogs/vegan dogs and drinking beer. Sounds good. 253 Club is raffling prizes from 5:30 to 8pm, and The Red Hot gives you $1 off your first beverage all day with a donation. We’ve had fun at this for a couple of years and plan to go again. It feels good to eat nacho cheese (think Frito Pie or the Dirty Nachos) while sharing a bit of love and support at the same time. See you there?
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