The Olympia Funk Festival returns for its fourth and biggest year, January 29 to 31, 2027. The 4th Annual Olympia Funk Festival, sometimes known as Funk Off!, is a lineup of acts that will get you out of your seat and get your brittle, PNW-chilled body moving. Olympia will be packed to the gills with music that is not only funk-indebted, but that leans more into the global sphere.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #19 — November 04, 2026
Dance and film — including local talent — are in the spotlight
— Ballet Victoria’s ‘Alice’
— New works by local choreographers
— OFS hosts local films and rock-climbing drama
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts partners with Southwest Washington based Ballet Northwest to bring Canada’s Ballet Victoria’s one afternoon production of “Alice in Wonderland” on November 7. Then Ballet Northwest’s “The Nutcracker” is performed there from December 11-20. It is a large-scale production featuring roles for children and adults, totaling around 200 performers. Most of the show’s choreography has been long established with small adjustments made depending on the makeup of the cast.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #18 — October 28, 2026
Celebrate scary and sweet season with Halloween happenings
— Love Oly Downtown for Halloween
— Boo Bash
— Samba Olywa’s Bone Gang
— “A Spirited Manor”
— “Alien”
“Temporal: A group show by Coast Salish Museum of Fine Art: Stories of Indigenous Present, Re-imagining Indigenous Futures” is curated by Mikaela Shafer in partnership with Indigenous Creatives Collective. It is a show that is full of real people and stories of current indigenous people, using their own voices in their own space, envisioning a future where indigenous people exist in the here and now on their own terms. CSMoFA has taken over Thurston County Museum of Fine Art to represent tribal nations in the Northwest.
Writer Star Wuerdemann always sought a place that connects writers to each other; sometimes, she found it. But in Olympia, she came up short. Wuerdemann recalled recently the advice given by Andrea Griffith, the owner of Browsers Bookshop, when she talked of her struggle to find a writing community. “Andrea said, ‘Sometimes you have to start it yourself.” Now Wuerdemann is doing just that. She’s launching OlyPages, a writing arts studio.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #17 — October 21, 2026
Theatrical treats range from mysterious and spooky to serious
— Fun with Holmes and Watson
— In the spirit of the scary season
— Timeless and timely theater at Harlequin
You might label the Capitol Theater an indie and art-house film venue, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But insiders know the Capitol Theater is so much more. From late fall 2026 through the end of the year, the Capitol Theater will host a public film club, serve as a live-music venue, and showcase regional filmmakers. Then, in December, it becomes a concert hall and cinema at once.
The creation of a beautiful croissant is no simple matter. The proper ingredients must be assembled: the perfect flour for the ambient climate, the correct yeast correctly handled, a quantity of rich European butter. The water must be pure and balanced… In the end, a single croissant is a product of a three-day creative process. And yet we have, here in Olympia, artists who attain such a level, and do so repeatedly, consistently, for the public good.
Harlequin Production’s State Theater is also an art gallery that features exhibitions of work by local artists concurrent with each of their stage shows. And there is an opening celebration for each exhibition where art lovers mingle, partake of snacks and drinks, visit with one another and with the exhibiting artists, and may purchase original works of art.
The Olympia Funk Festival returns for its fourth and biggest year, January 29 to 31, 2027. The 4th Annual Olympia Funk Festival, sometimes known as Funk Off!, is a lineup of acts that will get you out of your seat and get your brittle, PNW-chilled body moving. Olympia will be packed to the gills with music that is not only funk-indebted, but that leans more into the global sphere.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #19 — November 04, 2026
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts partners with Southwest Washington based Ballet Northwest to bring Canada’s Ballet Victoria’s one afternoon production of “Alice in Wonderland” on November 7. Then Ballet Northwest’s “The Nutcracker” is performed there from December 11-20. It is a large-scale production featuring roles for children and adults, totaling around 200 performers. Most of the show’s choreography has been long established with small adjustments made depending on the makeup of the cast.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #18 — October 28, 2026
“Temporal: A group show by Coast Salish Museum of Fine Art: Stories of Indigenous Present, Re-imagining Indigenous Futures” is curated by Mikaela Shafer in partnership with Indigenous Creatives Collective. It is a show that is full of real people and stories of current indigenous people, using their own voices in their own space, envisioning a future where indigenous people exist in the here and now on their own terms. CSMoFA has taken over Thurston County Museum of Fine Art to represent tribal nations in the Northwest.
Writer Star Wuerdemann always sought a place that connects writers to each other; sometimes, she found it. But in Olympia, she came up short. Wuerdemann recalled recently the advice given by Andrea Griffith, the owner of Browsers Bookshop, when she talked of her struggle to find a writing community. “Andrea said, ‘Sometimes you have to start it yourself.” Now Wuerdemann is doing just that. She’s launching OlyPages, a writing arts studio.
Molly Gilmore “Arts Aficionado” #17 — October 21, 2026
You might label the Capitol Theater an indie and art-house film venue, and you wouldn’t be wrong. But insiders know the Capitol Theater is so much more. From late fall 2026 through the end of the year, the Capitol Theater will host a public film club, serve as a live-music venue, and showcase regional filmmakers. Then, in December, it becomes a concert hall and cinema at once.
The creation of a beautiful croissant is no simple matter. The proper ingredients must be assembled: the perfect flour for the ambient climate, the correct yeast correctly handled, a quantity of rich European butter. The water must be pure and balanced… In the end, a single croissant is a product of a three-day creative process. And yet we have, here in Olympia, artists who attain such a level, and do so repeatedly, consistently, for the public good.
Harlequin Production’s State Theater is also an art gallery that features exhibitions of work by local artists concurrent with each of their stage shows. And there is an opening celebration for each exhibition where art lovers mingle, partake of snacks and drinks, visit with one another and with the exhibiting artists, and may purchase original works of art.