Connect to Tacoma: So Many May Events!

It’s May in Tacoma (and everywhere else, last I checked). The arrival of May comes to me with memories of dashing to my next-door neighbors’ doors with a covert gift of flowers, bundled into bunches of whatever grew in the garden that day—lilacs, bluebells, and forget-me-nots always. My parents taught us to do that, to pick our flowers, and sneak to Phyllis’s house, and then to Connie’s, lay a bouquet by the front door, ring the bell, and run like crazy. May children—and adults—do this until the earth ceases to exist.

We’re pretty into giving people flowers, as you can see. I’m writing about this because this post—like the April, March, February, and January posts—is all about community connection. And you don’t have to wait for an event, a ticketed gathering, or an invitation to create connection. You can just do it. You can just leave something nice on your neighbor’s porch, or send something in the mail to a person on your mind, or strike up a chat with someone when you’re walking by. Some people think that kind of behavior is weird, when an unknown person (a stranger!) engages them in conversation, but I don’t. I don’t think it’s weird. I think it’s required if we’re going to make it without becoming collectively mentally ill.

Maybe all you signed up for when you clicked the link that brought you here was a list of fun things to do to get outside your house/skull/rut/routine, and that’s fine. Here, you can have it: 12+ events to get you started. It’s free; it’s for you! We hope you find something that calls your name—Hey, You! Come do this thing! We hope you spark a connection you didn’t feel before to this place called Tacoma that we call home.

Connect to Tacoma with Events & Gatherings

1. Historic Preservation Month - Mysterious Tacoma

Starting May 1st
Online and In-Person
Multiple Locations
Events Galore

This month-long event gets started right away on May 1st, so don’t delay! Visit the Historic Preservation Month page to get in on it. This is not a stuffy, boring, old-news kind of event either. It’s full of engaging opportunities like:

Basically, it’s a lot of local fun. Yes. You should do this. Follow Tacoma Historic Preservation to stay in the loop.

2. Tacoma-Pierce County Bike Month

Starting May 1st
Virtual Events & Social Rides
Multiple Locations
Cycling Extravaganza!

Wait, I thought it was Historical Preservation Month. Yes! It’s both! Grab your helmet, get details from The City of Tacoma’s event page, and enjoy the ride. This month is all about celebrating cycling as transportation and recreation. Again, this is a month-long event with opportunities starting right away. Look for things like:

Find all the updates and events on Facebook (@mobility253) and on Instagram and Twitter (@tacomamobility).

Image from PNW Yarn Crawl

Image from PNW Yarn Crawl

3. PNW Yarn Crawl: Welcome to Hollywool

May 1st - 15th
Multiple Yarn Shop Locations
In-Person & Online

From Tacoma to Allyn, from Poulsbo to Olympia, from Fife to Auburn, yarn shops all over the region invite you to get your passport and join the fiber arts fun with special patterns and prizes. With the Hollywool theme, or local Tacoma Fibers, Etc is embracing their Scottish roots by featuring garments you might find in the popular Outlander series. Follow PNW Yarn Crawl on Facebook for details.

4. Tacoma Tool Library: Your New DIY Best Friend!

Saturday, May 1st
10:30 am - 12 pm
Via Zoom

Register for this free online workshop to introduce you to the tool library, what they offer, how it works, and how you can get involved. We know this might have caught you by surprise, starting right off here at the beginning of the month. So, if you missed this event, just start following Tacoma Tool Library’s Facebook or Instagram page to get a good heads-up on the next one.

Images from TPC-Habitat

Images from TPC-Habitat

5. Women Build: Intro to Tile

Wednesday, May 5th
4:30 - 5:30 pm

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All are welcome at this online, interactive tutorial on how to measure and cut ceramic tile and set with Thinset. Make sure to register ahead for this event in Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity’s ongoing Women Build series.

And if you’re feeling really enthusiastic, you can become a Women Build Member ($10/month, $120/year) and get priority access to Women Build construction opportunities and other events. Oh, and there’s a cool Women Build t-shirt too.

Images from Lakewold Gardens

Images from Lakewold Gardens

6. Mayfest at Lakewold Gardens

Friday, May 7th - Sunday, May 9th
Lakewold Gardens
12317 Gravelly Lake Drive, Lakewood

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Celebrate Mother’s Day, or just celebrate a spring weekend in the Pacific Northwest and the love of a good garden. Each day of the festival is a bit different; take a look at the schedule to decide when you’d like to go. Mayfest is a ticketed event, so make sure to visit the event page to secure your spot, especially if you have your eye on the Mother’s Day Dessert and Mimosas package. What else happens at Mayfest?

  • Docent Tours Gardens and History

  • Featured Artists in the Shop

  • Rhododendron Scavenger Hunt

  • Pop-up Flower Stand

  • withNature2020 Giant Mural Construction

  • Mother's Day Packaged Dessert and Mimosas

  • Live Harp Music by Twyla Eddins (10am -2pm)

  • Voice of the Trees - Walking Flute Concert with Rona Yellow Robe

7. The Return of Live Singing: Tacoma Refugee Choir Drive-In Concert

Saturday, May 15th
6:30 - 8:30 pm
LeMay America’s Car Museum-Haub Family Field

The Tacoma Refugee Choir—one of Tacoma’s beloved community choirs—is incredibly eager to sing together with you again! Drive-in early for some food trucks. Join a car horn symphony. Sing along from your car. Enjoy the choral music and special guests too. This event is beautiful for many reasons (singing, community love, the entire welcoming ethos of the organization) including its ticketing structure: pay $0, $20, or $40 per car. It’s really up to you and what you can afford. If you want to be part of it, be part of it!

Image from Creative Colloquy

Image from Creative Colloquy

8. Creative Colloquy The Writer’s Workshop Series: Writing Interactive, Vivid Settings

Saturday, May 15th
6:30 - 8 pm
Online

Calling Tacoma and Pacific Northwest writers working to hone your craft and ready to participate in a generous literary community! Creative Colloquy’s ongoing Writer’s Workshop Series returns month after month with an array of instructors, guides, encouragers, and nuanced topics. This month, the focus is setting, specifically, creating settings that are interactive and vivid. Led this month by Tyrean Martinson. It’s only $5, so if you’re feeling drawn toward this topic or just want to start getting to know this community, don’t hesitate.

9. Tacoma Public Library’s Pet Parade

Saturday, May 21st
7 - 8:30 pm
Online via Zoom

Join people all over Tacoma who love their pets/furry friends/four-legged family/winged-family/scaled family. See and get to know the creatures other people live with, care for, and learn from every day. Tell stories about what makes your loved animal friend special, funny, or strange! Event designed for 5th graders to people 100 years old and more - register here. P.S. Special bonus if your pet wears a costume!

10. Tacoma Sunday Market

Sundays, starting May 23rd
10 am - 3 pm
3700 S Park Ave, Tacoma

You might know this as the Lincoln District Vintage Walk, but this grassroots, community driven market is going by Tacoma Sunday Market starting on May 23rd. And you will want to be there. Visit the market, then wander the Lincoln District and show this distinct and beloved South End neighborhood some—well—love! What’s at the market?

  • Vintage

  • Antiques

  • Produce & Flowers

  • Art & Handmade Goods

  • A Food Truck Lot

  • People! Real ones! Out and about!

Connect to Tacoma with Ongoing Opportunities

Image from The Grand Cinema

Image from The Grand Cinema

11. The Grand Cinema is Open!

Inhale, exhale. Smell that popcorn? It must be an olfactory message from the universe summoning you to The Grand Cinema because movies are happening, films are screening, reels are spinning (or whatever the digital equivalent of that is), and yes, the butter is melted, the popcorn is salted, the seats are lonely, there are so many stories to be told, characters to know, lands to visit, perspectives to explore, beauty to behold.

And yes, in this as in everything, please be conscientious in your choices as you decide which activities are safe for you.

Connect to Tacoma by Volunteering, Donating & Accessing Support

Image from Windermere Abode

Image from Windermere Abode

12. Sandwiches & Supplies for Neighbors in Need

Fridays
4:30 pm
Windermere Abode
2200 N 30th St, Tacoma

We know we’ve shared this many times before, but sharing food and other necessities continues to be vital in Tacoma. Meet for a physically distanced drop-off in Old Town in the parking lot behind Windermere Abode. Bring your wrapped sandwiches, packaged snacks, and fresh fruit, or other supplies (see the list below). A member of our Abode community will deliver directly to the Tacoma Rescue Mission. Thanks for all your help!

What helps?

  • fleece & wool blankets

  • sandwiches, fruit, wrapped snacks

  • toothbrush & toothpaste

  • alcohol free mouth wash

  • deodorant

  • razors & shave gel/cream

  • body wash (no bars of soap please)

  • lotion

  • wet wipes

Keep in touch about Tacoma life, community, events, homes, and a bit about us.

We had an impromptu Saturday afternoon date up at 7 Seas with lunch from Canteen Colvos (smash burger, sweet potato fries, and a lobster roll 🦞), coffee from Naomi Joe (sweet folks), and a wee bit of pinball. Gretchen couldn’t sleep that night
This year we’re back with a list of 10 ways to give love in December ❤️ Our guide includes 5 recommendations for local gift giving with holiday markets and some of our favorite small shops, and 5 suggestions for giving to unknown neighbors outs
On this closing day the biggest excitement came from a 7 year old who’s about to have his own room and who loves (fervently) the bathroom downstairs with orange walls. We’re excited for the whole family. Friendly neighbors came over to sa
I’m grateful Michael is willing to join me again, again, again and again on Orcas Island. We went last week so I could turn 41 in a place where my heart feels quiet, where deer tracks and bird tracks cross on the beach, where paths bordered by
When even the east glows at sunset What stills me in one window frame Where fabric flower feather and wax make the table a place How light of sky and light of candle and light of bulb need their own names Why home is also the distance seen beyond its
Featured
10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2024
10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2024

This year we’re back with a list of 10 ways to give love in December. You’ll find our guide for local gift giving with holiday markets and some of our favorite small shops included, and 5 suggestions for giving to unknown neighbors outside your circle of friends. All 10 ways of giving put love into the Tacoma community! Read on for the magic of a musical play given by kids, a list of local cafes for coffee lovers, a gift card drive to support clients at the YWCA, a nostalgic holiday movie marathon, a way to support health and care for folks who can’t afford insurance, a chance to transform $1 into 2 meals, and the best local spots to shop for little ones.

What's New, Tacoma? 17 New Businesses + 3 Coming Soon
What's New, Tacoma? 17 New Businesses + 3 Coming Soon

There’s change in the air across Tacoma, the return of things once lost, the reopening of places once closed, the transformation of one restaurant into another, the creation of brand new places to gather, shop, eat, and drink. We’ve been experiencing this change across the city and wanted to pull some of it together in one place. What follows is a list of 17 new, renewed, and returned businesses along with 3 coming soon. See if you can enjoy and support something new this month; if you do, we’d love to hear about it!

Tacoma Community: 15 Things to Do in October
Tacoma Community: 15 Things to Do in October

We’ve rounded-up and narrowed-down 15 ways to get out into community this October. Don your most intellectual scarf and hat combination for a literary night, dance and eat with the Greeks, step into a candlelit tour our 1855, get psyched up about cycling (and bicycle fashion), try forest bathing, don your most eccentric scarf and hat combination for the film festival, write letters for fun, tour art studios, hear from Latinas who experience being The Firsts in so many ways, take a local art walk, and celebrate Día de los Muertos. We’ve got some ways to volunteer in here too—lend a hand with Habitat for Humanity, pick up litter, or pull weeds and plant seeds at a favorite park to keep Tacoma green.

Get Out of Town: Puget Sound Day Trips
Get Out of Town: Puget Sound Day Trips

Once in a while, we all need to get out of town. This month we’re sharing about Port Townsend and Vashon Island, two places we go again and again when a change of scene is calling. They’re places where the beach is always near, where parking is easy, where woods and trails beckon us away from the sidewalks. Places where small, local bakeries, coffee roasters, independent bookstores, and one of a kind shops outnumber chains by far. We’ll share some of the ways we pass the time and how we fill our stomachs (never a problem). Don’t worry too much about planning; these destinations are so close to Tacoma, you can show up again and try what you missed. Wake up one morning and just decide to go!

Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide
Tacoma Outdoor Dining Guide

Want to go out and really be out—out in the open air, beneath a colorful umbrella, on a shaded patio, beside a bustling sidewalk, seated on a deck overlooking the water, pulled up to a bar counter by the street? We’ve gathered over 60 of Tacoma’s outdoor dining spots by neighborhood to get you started. Take a look at our list of restaurants, cafes, and bars with outdoor seating, then get yourself away from the screen, out the door, and into the life of Tacoma’s summer. See you out there!

Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays
Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays

Tacoma, Tuesdays, Trivia, Tacos, Talent. It’s the truth, there’s stuff to do. We have 19 of those things listed right here (twenty would have sounded so good) and not all of them start with “t.” There’s ballet and book club, wine and film, story time and bingo. So dust off your dancing shoes, clean your spectacles, strap the baby in a stroller, study up on random facts, warm up your vocal chords, and work up an appetite; it’s Tuesday in Tacoma!

Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4
Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4

This is not an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list. No, we aren’t really bringing that kind of energy to life. This is the 4th edition of 5 things we like in Tacoma from a list of way more things we like in Tacoma. Sound good? An annual rogue art treasure hunt, a tiny slip of sandy beach, an old place to watch new and cult classic films, a weekly opportunity for repairing your stuff, and a spot where the noodles and broth fill you up in a good way. Some of it’s free. All of it’s good. We’re not making any other claims (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).

The Sunset Side: Tacoma's Other Waterfront
The Sunset Side: Tacoma's Other Waterfront

This month we're here to give a shout out to the other waterfront, the home of Titlow Beach, Seashore Drive, the iconic Narrows Bridges, and the Tacoma sunset. We’ll share where we eat and what we order, the trails we like to take, and what makes this side of the city feel like home. All you need is one evening for a waterfront getaway.

Hi, I'm Michael Duggan, a licensed broker with Windermere Abode. I would love to help you through the home buying or selling process. Please contact me to set up a meeting and get things started.