SATURDAY, JULY 27 2013 >>>
1. 7 Seas Brewing isn't just the maker of delicious craft beer. It isn't just at the forefront of the "beer in a can is cool again" movement. It's a local business doing things the right way and an entity that knows how to party - as will be proven when 7 Seas throws a four-year anniversary bash in front of its tap room from noon to 8 p.m. Expect beer, food vendors, a few antics (giant Jenga games have dotted previous anniversary parties) and live music by Perry Acker, Ben Union, Kim Archer, SweetKiss Momma, and Red Stone Sinners.
2. How many folks out there knew Tacoma hosts one of the biggest and best rugby 7's tournament in the entire region? OK, how many people even know what rugby 7's is? A primer may be in order. Rugby 7's is an exciting variation on the traditional game, played on smaller fields with fewer players (seven as opposed to 15. Get it?). For the last 37 years, Tacoma has hosted a summer 7's tournament featuring some of the best male and female rugby teams in the area. Throw on some blood-resistant apparel and catch the action at the Portland Avenue Play Fields in East Tacoma from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
3. If you've ever been to a mushroom festival - particularly the Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival, which this year runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Thurston County Regional Athletic Complex - you already know that mycologists ('shroom experts) are in a league of their own. Mushroom festivals are the strangest, funniest and, not so incidentally, most educational experience you're ever likely participate in. And, no, hippie: Pacific Northwest Mushroom Festival does feature "magic" mushrooms (psilocybes and otherwise). What it does include are about a dozen local restaurant chefs who will prepare mushroom-based delectables during the Lacey festival.
4. You don't need to attend the annual Ethnic Fest to see Tacoma is a melting pot, but it certainly doesn't hurt to help you appreciate it. That's the power of more than a dozen food booths representing a multitude of delicious tastes from cultures around the world, not to mention more arts, crafts, Saturday night movie and music than you can shake a culturally diverse stick at. In its 27th year, Tacoma's Ethnic Fest is easily one of the shining moments of each summer for this city. See why from noon to 7 p.m. at Wright Park.
5. We have officially been Jilly Rizzo - Rolled. I cannot, for the life of me, get the song "Shuttlecock of Love" out of my head. After watching a YouTube video of The Jilly Rizzo playing live in studio on the BJ Shea Show, I've been batting the catchy chorus around in my brain. Based out of Renton, the band features former 107.7 DJ Dick Rosetti, who knows a thing or two about catchy choruses. Hence his interest in The Jilly Rizzo playing with Trees and Timber and The Variety Hour, two Tacoma indie pop rock bands that compliment the scene with their diversity and delight at 9 p.m. in The Acme Grub Cage.
LINK: Saturday, July 27 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area
