Olympia Events Calendar

The ThurstonTalk Events Calendar shares things to do around Thurston County including Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater, Yelm, Tenino and beyond. Find fun activities and adventures throughout the region on our comprehensive events calendar.

Have an event that isn’t listed? Please email events@ThurstonTalk.com with the following information:

  • Name of Event
  • Date, time and location (name of business if applicable and complete address)
  • Organizer(s) name
  • Cost
  • URL to purchase tickets
  • Website URL
  • SHORT description of event
  • Photo

Our editors will review and post within a few business days.

Agenda
Agenda
April – June 2024 Apr – Jun 2024
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Apr
27
Sat
Playback Theatre Performance: Stories of Library Treasures @ Lacey Timberland Library
Tickets
Apr 27 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Join Olympia’s own Heartsparkle Players and the Thunders for an afternoon of stories and community!

They will take your personal moments and create a spontaneous theatrical experience using a style of improvisation called Playback Theatre. They have been delighting local audiences for 33 years. Come tell your stories about what you treasure about libraries!

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances Tags: heartsparkle players playback theatre thunders
The Greatest Showman Sing Along @ Washington Center Main Stage
Tickets
Apr 27 @ 6:00 pm
The Greatest Showman Sing Along @ Washington Center Main Stage

One of our most popular sing-along movies is back! The Greatest Showman was inspired by the legend and ambitions of America’s original pop-culture impresario, P.T. Barnum. Local host Lauren O’Neill will warm up the audience! Come sing along with Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya on the big screen!

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Family Events Theater Performances
Apr
28
Sun
Kings of Silent Comedy @ Washington Center Main Stage
Tickets
Apr 28 @ 2:00 pm
Kings of Silent Comedy @ Washington Center Main Stage

Experience silent films the way they were meant to be seen and heard, accompanied by our 1924 Wurlitzer Organ! Featuring Charlie Chaplin’s The Pilgrim and Harold Lloyd’s Why Worry? We welcome film fans of all ages to step back in time to revel in the authentically recreated sounds and nostalgia from times gone by.

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Family Events Theater Performances
May
3
Fri
Auditions for Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre’s summer musical of Rodger & Hammerstein’s STATE FAIR @ SPSCC Black Box building 21-PM
Tickets
May 3 @ 6:30 pm
Auditions for Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre's summer musical of Rodger & Hammerstein's STATE FAIR @ SPSCC Black Box building 21-PM

Actors will be asked to read and sing sections from State Fair. If actors have prepared a one-minute monologue or 16 measures of music, we would love to hear them. Please make sure to wear clothing and shoes that allows for movement. Actors may be asked to learn a few steps to repeat. After auditions are held, call backs will take place on May 5th. More information at: https://teninoyoungathearttheatre.org/auditions/

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances
Ladies of Laughter @ Washington Center Main Stage
Tickets
May 3 @ 7:30 pm
Ladies of Laughter @ Washington Center Main Stage

This fest of funny femmes returns to the Center as the Ladies of Laughter comedy event has been a patron favorite with rave reviews! Expect big laughs, big fun, and a memorable night out.

The Washington Center is thrilled to welcome Alycia back to the Washington Center stage! A Comedian, actress, singer, dancer, and DGA Emmy nominated Director, Alycia is also the 2014 Ladies of Laughter Professional winner. She has entertained the troops in Japan, Korea, Guam, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Djibouti Africa. She was featured in Essence Magazine as “One To Watch” and that title still holds true today with her 5th comedy album, “Let Alycia Be Alycia.” having cracked the Billboard Top 10 to rave reviews on iTunes, and recently having been the “Featured Comic of the Month” on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Laugh 98.

Liz Glazer is an award-winning standup comedian, actor, and writer. Liz was the 2021 Newcomer winner in the Ladies of Laughter Competition and won first place in the Boston Comedy Festival. This former law professor has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and has been the opening act for Myq Kaplan and Maria Bamford. As an actor, Liz has appeared on ABC Television’s For Life and CBS’s Bull. She is on the faculty at Lesly Kahn & Co., the Los Angeles acting studio and is writing a television pilot about her life, a draft of which was a semi-finalist in the Stage 32 writing competition.

Maureen Langan is an award-winning broadcaster, international standup comedian, TEDx Talk speaker and corporate & event host. She has performed on Broadway with Rosie O’ Donnell and has shared the stage with Robin Williams, Steven Wright, Joy Behar, Gladys Knight and Jordin Sparks just to name a few. Maureen’s critically-acclaimed solo show, Daughter of a Garbageman, was hailed as a “one woman tour- de-force” when it made its U.S. debut in San Francisco. Maureen has been a Ladies of Laughter finalist and is a regular performer in the Ladies of Laughter national tour.

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances
May
4
Sat
Auditions for Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre’s summer musical of Rodger & Hammerstein’s STATE FAIR @ Parkside Elementary School
Tickets
May 4 @ 2:00 pm
Auditions for Tenino Young-at-Heart Theatre's summer musical of Rodger & Hammerstein's STATE FAIR @ Parkside Elementary School

Actors will be asked to read and sing sections from State Fair. If actors have prepared a one-minute monologue or 16 measures of music, we would love to hear them. Please make sure to wear clothing and shoes that allows for movement. Actors may be asked to learn a few steps to repeat. After auditions are held, call backs will take place on May 5th. More information at: https://teninoyoungathearttheatre.org/auditions/

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances
Olympia Family Theater Annual Fundraising Gala @ South Puget Sound Community College
Tickets
May 4 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Olympia Family Theater Annual Fundraising Gala @ South Puget Sound Community College

Each year Olympia Family Theater hosts an extra special fundraiser Gala and auction extravaganza, and the 2024 event will be held from 5-8 PM on May 4 at South Puget Sound Community College.

All fans of the arts are invited to join the fun! The event will feature dinner and drinks that come with the ticket price, live performance entertainment, games (including OFT’s famous wine toss,) a delicious dessert dash, and both silent and live auctions featuring everything from stayaway trips to local treats! Plus, an online auction launches April 28 and culminates at the event. Tickets are $100 and include access to all the fun at the event, including tasty dinner and delicious cocktails!

All of the proceeds from the event will go to support Olympia Family Theater, the longtime treasured Olympia nonprofit providing theatrical opportunities to audiences of all ages. Programs that will directly benefit from the fundraiser include Olympia Family Theater’s radical Access-for-ALL Program, which makes all tickets and class tuition available to everyone on a sliding scale starting at FREE.

More information and to purchase your tickets, visit www.OlyFT.org/Gala-2024.

Our Mission: Olympia Family Theater engages audiences of all ages in performances and programs that entertain and educate.

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Food & Beverage Non-profit Fundraising Events Theater Performances
May
9
Thu
Comedy Underground @ Washington Center Black Box
Tickets
May 9 @ 7:30 pm
Comedy Underground @ Washington Center Black Box

Comedy Underground is back to make you laugh. Each event features a new slate of touring comedians that are sure to make you laugh out loud! Recommended for ages 18+.

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances
May
16
Thu
The Aunties – Women of the Salish Sea, Episode 2 @ Washington Center Main Stage
Tickets
May 16 @ 7:30 pm
The Aunties – Women of the Salish Sea, Episode 2 @ Washington Center Main Stage

The Aunties – Women of the Salish Sea features stories by Native American and First Nations Matriarchs, told live from stage to be immortalized in an online series of shorts. The term Aunties is an honorific that signifies a woman or non-binary person who holds a place of significance and respect in their communities. This original Indigenous Performance Production features women and non-binary Aunties who have spent their lives dedicated to serving their communities through the creation of hope, opportunity and connection. The Aunties amplifies their life’s work through a once-in-a-lifetime event featuring traditional storytelling, theater and multimedia arts.

We pay tribute to Aunties and the important role they play in Indigenous communities-of which they have long been recognized as vital caretakers of its connection, tradition and cohesion. Through shared storytelling, Aunties provide a space for everyone to gather to collectively reflect on their pasts and shared identity, as they look for ways towards a better future. The Aunties are the Keepers of their Community. We celebrate them now, at an especially important time due to the loss of so many elders from Covid-19. As Native and Indigenous communities bear the burden of those lost including their leadership, guidance and connections, The Aunties honors their contributions and preserves their stories for future generations to come.

In Partnership with Indigenous Performance Productions

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Education Family Events Local History Theater Performances
Jun
1
Sat
Professor Petticoat’s Punch and Judy Show! A Puppet Show for All-Ages @ Sparrow Studios
Tickets
Jun 1 @ 4:00 pm
Professor Petticoat's Punch and Judy Show! A Puppet Show for All-Ages @ Sparrow Studios

Step right up to Professor Petticoat’s Punch and Judy Show! Experience firsthand the joy and mischief of England’s beloved puppetry legacy, right here in the U.S.

With roots stretching back to the Italian Commedia dell’Arte, Punch and Judy found its way to London in 1662, where it evolved into the uniquely English puppet show that remains popular today. The now iconic Mr. Punch is celebrated as England’s national puppet, and his adventures, ranging from the everyday to the supernatural, continue to delight audiences of all ages.

Professor Petticoat trained in England under a master performer and brings over a decade of experience performing with Mr. Punch in the U.S. She is delighted to bring her show to Sparrow Studios! Join us for a performance where the timeless charm of Mr. Punch’s world is alive and well, offering laughter, slapstick humor, and a touch of anarchy.

Come see for yourself why Mr. Punch has been loved for so many years.

Plus special guest local storyteller Elizabeth Lord! Elizabeth has been delighting audiences in Olympia for years with her one-woman storytelling shows, and she produces/hosts the monthly storytelling slam StoryOly. Opening for Professor Petticoat, she returns to her first storytelling love, traditional folktales. She will delight the audience telling old tales from the British Isles and more.

Appropriate for All-Ages.

See you there!

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Categories: Arts and Entertainment Family Events Kids Theater Performances
Jun
13
Thu
Comedy Underground @ Washington Center Black Box
Tickets
Jun 13 @ 7:30 pm
Comedy Underground @ Washington Center Black Box

Comedy Underground is back to make you laugh. Each event features a new slate of touring comedians that are sure to make you laugh out loud! Recommended for ages 18+.

Read more
Categories: Arts and Entertainment Theater Performances
April – June 2024 Apr – Jun 2024