MARK THOMAS DEMING: NINE WAYS TO FRITTER AWAY YOUR SUMMER DAYS >>>

Ah, summer in the South Sound.  A time for baseball, camping, riding bikes, climbing trees, cooking out.  Time for walking beaches and hiking mountains.  A time to eat bear stew in McCleary, race boats in Olympia and geek out to world music in Tacoma’s Wright Park.  That’s right, it’s festival season, when you can find all the fun, food and freakiness your gaunt, pale Northwest ass can handle â€" and more.  Because you can’t catch them all, we’ve chosen the shindigs you won’t want to miss. Check them out here.