Exciting events abound year-round in Thurston County. You can always keep tabs on upcoming events at visitolympia.com and thurstontalk.com.
Here’s a rundown of just a few of the fun things to look forward to in the next few months.
Presented by South Sound Wedding & Event Magazine, the fifth annual South Sound Wedding Show – the largest wedding show in Southwest Washington – comes to Thurston County on Sunday, January 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Great Wolf Lodge in Centralia.
“Brides- and grooms-to-be will find inspiring ideas to create the wedding of their dreams at the South Sound Wedding Show,” says Paula R. Lowe, show producer.
“They’ll see the newest trends in wedding gowns, tuxedos, bridal bouquets, hair styles, makeup, and bridesmaid dresses,” she continues.
Fashion shows are scheduled at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Wedding professionals will also be on hand to help guide attendees through planning every detail. “They’ll meet florists, DJs, venue managers, and others — all South Sound wedding professionals who will help them design a beautiful wedding.”
Tickets are available at the door for $8 and attendees can register to win door prizes.
February: Old Time Music Festival
The fourth annual Olympia Old-Time Music Festival kicks off Thursday, February 16 at the Urban Onion, providing attendees a fully participatory music and dance experience.
Featured performers from the Pacific Northwest will demonstrate the stronghold that Appalachian “mountain music” has established throughout the country.
The four-day event includes two square dances, music workshops, concerts, and a jam session to close out the festivities. There will also be a youth-oriented track.
The organizers’ goals for the festival are three-pronged, according to booking coordinator Emily Teachout: being affordable, being participatory, and fostering the continuation of traditional old time music.
“To that end,” says Teachout, “everyone under 12 is admitted free. There’s no charge for workshops, and open jamming is fully encouraged.”
“We’re excited to be at a new venue this year, where everything can take place under one roof,” she continues, “with concerts in the Urban Onion lounge, workshops in the lobby, dances in the ballroom, a talent-show-style cabaret, and jamming in every available nook and cranny.”
Two fundraising events are planned to help support the festival: a family-dance and cakewalk on Sunday, January 22nd and an evening square dance on Friday, February 3rd.
For more information, visit www.olyoldtime.org or check out the event’s Facebook page.
With a motto like, “We put the MOCK in Democracy!” Capitol Steps proves that though politics is a serious, contentious business, there’s a lighter side to everything.
A group of Washington D.C. Senate staffers pulled together in 1981 to create the political musical satire troupe. To be sure, Capitol Steps is never short of inspiration.
“Typically, the Republicans goof up, and the Democrats party. Then the Democrats goof up and the Republicans party. That’s what we call the two-party system,” jokes founding member Elaina Newport, who worked as a legislative assistant for Senators Charles Percy and Alfonse D’Amato. She is married to a former President Clinton appointee.
The troupe performs weekly in Washington, D.C. and can also be heard four times a year on NPR (locally on Seattle’s KUOW) with its “Politics Takes a Holiday” radio show.
But the comedic crew also takes its show on the road, and will hit the Washington Center for the Arts on Thursday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The show’s stop in Olympia is a popular annual tradition, so whether you’ve never seen Capitol Steps or you’re a longtime fan, it’s time to grab tickets.
April: Arts Walk and Procession of the Species
Few events are as synonymous with Olympia as the Procession of the Species, a community celebration that began here in 1995, originally intended to commemorate Earth Day and support the renewal of the Endangered Species Act. The Procession has since spread to other communities.
Coupled with Spring Arts Walk, another favorite community gala, the Procession of the Species culminates on Saturday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m. in a parade unlike any before it. Community members create imaginative animal-themed costumes, and then walk and dance through downtown, joined by musicians of all stripes. The streets are always packed with smiling spectators.
For Olympia resident Sultana Shah, the Procession of the Species is all about community. “Part of why I love Olympia so much is because there’s this great mix of people, from ultra-liberal to incredibly conservative – since we have both the State Capitol and Evergreen – and I love that everyone, and I mean everyone, comes out for the Procession.”
Shah has been coming to the Procession since 1996, save for a few years when she lived out of the area. She now looks forward to taking her kids every year.
“I love having kids play in the street without a care, anxiously awaiting the people giving out the chalk,” she says. “I love trying to anticipate which float will be my favorite. And I especially love when the sun comes out for it!”
Upcoming Summer Events
Looking ahead to summer in Thurston County, residents and visitors alike can finally enjoy the long-planned and much-anticipated Hands On Children’s Museum in its new location on Olympia’s East Bay. Its popular Sand in the City event will also move from Olympia’s Port Plaza to the new, spacious museum location.
The 24th annual Paddle to Squaxin 2012 takes place July 29, when the Squaxin Island Tribe hosts the 24th annual canoe journey, originally called “Paddle to Seattle.” Tribes from Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and the Seminole Tribe in Florida will participate in this honoring of canoe culture traditions.