SATURDAY, JUNE 21 2014 >>>

1. Capital City Pride begins at 11 a.m. in Sylvester Park with the live performances by Sonny Nguyn & Stonewall Youth, Wonder, guitar picker and set designer extraordinaire Bruce Haasl, Something Wicked Comedy Improv, The Downey Brothers at 1 p.m., Xavier Toscano, Full Moon Radio at 2:15 p.m. and headliner Paris Original (with Hattie Hotpants & Gregory Conn) and Thea Austin at 3 p.m. There will be information and food booths in the park, a marvelous kids' area with activities provided by the Hands On Children's Museum, lots of speechifying and, of course, drag performances.

2. Happy pigs and human heads carved from coconuts, T-shirts, coffee mugs, salt and pepper shakers, trays, bells and toothpick holders stenciled with Florida iconography, metal frames bordered with leaping dolphins, necklaces, nightlights made from mollusks' shiny homes. One person's tacky is another's kitsch at Pierce County Parks & Recreation community garage sale Junk in the Trunk, where people stuff their automobiles with, er, stuff they want to sell from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sprinker Recreation Center. Even if you don't buy any of the crap they're hawking, it's worth a visit for people-watching purposes alone. And if you happen to be looking for old lamps, cheap socks or worn-down appliances, all the better.

3. Fort Nisqually Living History Museum hosts a dozen cooks competing for the coveted Golden Skillet from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. According to pre-event hype, "This event is a glimpse into how we cooked and what we ate during the mid-1800s. The Fort's re-enactors will cook on a wood stove and over numerous campfires." Celebrity guest cook Paula Marcoux, food historian and author of Cooking with Fire, will be in the ... fort.

4. There are no words when a community loses one of its beloved members. There are no words, but there is music. And this is exactly what Brian Redman would have wanted. A stalwart in Tacoma's music scene, (3 Inches of Blood, Trial, Dirty Knockers) it's been nearly five years since Redman tragically lost his life. But, his spirit rocks on. BriFest 2014 features 11 music acts, including Pig Snout, Earth Mother, Kim Archer and Nolan Garrett, beginning at 2:30 p.m. in Jazzbones. BriFest is a fundraiser for the Brian Redmond Memorial Fund, which continues to give out the $1,000 Brian Redman Memorial Fund Scholarship.

5. The Thermals have never skimped on passion - musically or lyrically. With straightforward opinions about politics being spat by Hutch Harris at a furious rate per minute, over the driving pop-punk explosions of the unimpeachable trio, the Thermals have been, at their best, near unmatchable for fist-pumping power. It's not often that the band graces a Tacoma stage, so consider this show unmissable. Catch the band with Big Eyes and Wheelies at 9 p.m. in The New Frontier Lounge.

LINK: Saturday, June 21 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area