What's Happening, Tacoma? 21 May Events

That time a friendly kid offered to take a photo of us at a Tacoma Arts event. You may just get so lucky this May. But only if you head out and try something!

May is a big month for annual events and celebrations in Tacoma, so we’re keeping our monthly post simple by just gathering up a variety of what’s on offer.

May is Bike Month.

May is Historic Preservation Month.

May holds Affordable Housing Week.

Visit those pages linked above to get all the associated events planned around Tacoma and Pierce County!

We’ve chosen some events to represent each of those important themes, and you’ll find a host of other opportunities to learn, get out of the house, be festive, explore your creativity, support the arts, and lend a hand.

May is the month for a lightsaber battle, for live music and crafts in Old Town Park, for night markets, plants sales at your local high school, locally made short film screenings, hands-on printmaking and paper arts. It’s the month to learn about the history of Tacoma, and even contribute your own story at events like the Eastside Story Fest. It’s the month to pick-up litter with a bunch of nice people, the month to set out nutritious foods for your mail carrier to share with the food bank, the month to take time to learn more about affordable housing. It’s the month to tune up your bike and join a group ride.

Grab the kids, call your dog, pick-up a friend, stop by for Grandma, (don’t forget yourself), and step out the door into the community a time or two this Month. The days are lengthening, the dogwoods are bursting with blooms, and you might bump into a friend, make a new one, or even get to know yourself better. Maybe we’ll see you out there.

Image from La Paloma Tacoma

Daily, Weekly & One-Time Events This May in Tacoma

Interactive print arts we brought home from Wayzgoose in 2023. Be sure to bring a blank t-shirt or sweathshirt for the free screen printing with Shroom Brothers!

Image from the Black Night Market

  1. Daily for a few weeks: Frisko Freeze camps out at E9 Brewing Co. downtown while they complete renovations on Division

  2. Weekly on Saturdays: Tacoma Night Market's Downtown Mini Mart every Saturday starting May 4th

  3. Weekly on Sundays: Lazy Sundays at La Paloma Tacoma

  4. Weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays: Community Hours at Rainbow Center 

  5. The First 2 Weeks of May: Tacoma Public School Plant Sales! At Lincoln, Mt. Tahoma, & Silas

  6. Friday & Saturday, 5/3 & 5/4: Tacoma Wayzgoose (In case you're not familiar: What's a Wayzgoose?)

  7. Saturday, 5/4: May the 4th is Star Wars Day! 2nd Annual Tacoma Lightsaber Battle at Dune Peninsula

  8. Saturday, 5/4:  Hilltop Artists Spring Glass Sale at Hilltop Heritage Middle School

  9. Saturday, 5/4: Old Town Craft & Music Fest at Old Town Park

  10. Wednesday, 5/8: Unzipped: An Autopsy of American Inequality - Film Premiere & Director Discussion at the Grand Cinema (part of Affordable Housing Week)

  11. Friday, 5/10: 253 Short Film Party with Tacoma Creates & The Grand Cinema

  12. Saturday, 5/11: Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive - Check out Emergency Food Network's List of Most Wanted Foods in our area

  13. Saturday, 5/11: Bike Month Safety Story Time with Arts & Crafts at Swasey Library

  14. Friday, 5/17: Old Shirt, New Look with Tacoma Historical Society and Tacoma Creates

  15. Saturday, 5/18: Eastside Story Fest at Eastside Community Center

  16. Sunday, 5/19: Destiny Dozen Hill Challenge with Second Cycle for Bike Month

  17. Saturday & Sunday, 5/25 & 5/26: Tacoma Night Market & Sunday Drag Brunch

  18. Saturday, 5/25: Oscar’s Enemies Litter Pick-up

  19. Saturday, 5/25: Poetry After Dark presented by the Black Night Market

  20. Wednesday, 5/29: Affordable Housing Workshop with UW Tacoma School of Urban Studies 

  21. Thursday, 5/30: State of Black Tacoma by Tacoma Urban League

KEEP IN TOUCH ABOUT TACOMA LIFE, COMMUNITY, EVENTS, HOMES, AND A BIT ABOUT US.

❤️ We’re glad to work amongst people who show up, even in the morning, even at what is often the busiest time of year for those in real estate. Communities in Schools Lakewood reminded us that it takes a village. And really, this fundraiser fel
🛋️ If the search for home is calling you toward simplicity, stability, comfort, and proximity to things that bring joy, this might be the place for you. Life in this condo offers the comfort and ease of living all on one level and the peace of the g
Born yesterday. If the fuzzed, green-cloaked flower heads are to be trusted, siblings soon to follow. -G #poppytime
✨ A move-in ready Craftsman with a rentable turnkey apartment attached beckons from a Tacoma street corner. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see cheerful red walls in the dappled shade of leafy street trees, flowering basket
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What's Happening, Tacoma? 21 May Events
What's Happening, Tacoma? 21 May Events

May is Bike Month. May is Historic Preservation Month. May holds Affordable Housing Week. May is the month for a lightsaber battle, for live music and crafts in Old Town Park, for night markets, plant sales at your local high school, hands-on printmaking and paper arts, and locally made short films. It’s the month to learn about the history of Tacoma, and even contribute your own story at events like the Eastside Story Fest. It’s the month to pick-up litter with a bunch of nice people, the month to set out nutritious foods for your mail carrier to share with the food bank, the month to take time to learn more about affordable housing. It’s the month to tune up your bike and join a group ride.

Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays
Out on the Town 2024: Tacoma Tuesdays

Tacoma, Tuesdays, Trivia, Tacos, Talent. It’s the truth, there’s stuff to do. We have 19 of those things listed right here (twenty would have sounded so good) and not all of them start with “t.” There’s ballet and book club, wine and film, story time and bingo. So dust off your dancing shoes, clean your spectacles, strap the baby in a stroller, study up on random facts, warm up your vocal chords, and work up an appetite; it’s Tuesday in Tacoma!

Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4
Tacoma Love: 5 Good Things—Vol. 4

This is not an ultimate, all time, best of the best, win or go home, top 5 list. No, we aren’t really bringing that kind of energy to life. This is the 4th edition of 5 things we like in Tacoma from a list of way more things we like in Tacoma. Sound good? An annual rogue art treasure hunt, a tiny slip of sandy beach, an old place to watch new and cult classic films, a weekly opportunity for repairing your stuff, and a spot where the noodles and broth fill you up in a good way. Some of it’s free. All of it’s good. We’re not making any other claims (who needs all that best-stress anyway?).

Tacoma 2024: Make Yourself At Home
Tacoma 2024: Make Yourself At Home

As we take our first steps into 2024, we’re thinking about home and how we make it. We’re thinking about how we continue to seek, find, and create belonging. In this list we’ve collected 7 ways we’ve made ourselves at home in Tacoma and made friends with the city. Go to a festival, become a regular, follow some local news, help out, be pals with the library, explore local history and art, do something new. After a while you’ve made a connection that didn’t exist before. These 7 ideas aren’t deep Tacoma secrets. Rather, think of this list like suggested ingredients for making yourself at home. Take a look and join us.

10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2023
10 Ways to Give Local Love - 2023

This month we’ve created a list focused on 10 ways to give in December. You’ll find 5 sections of recommendations for local gift giving with holiday markets and some of our favorite small shops included, and 5 suggestions for giving outside your circle of friends and family to community and unknown neighbors. All 10 ways of giving put love into the Tacoma community! Read on for a choir made of refugees and USA-born residents offering a concert to celebrate peace, a list of local cafes for coffee lovers, a gift card drive to support clients at the YWCA, a nostalgic holiday movie marathon, a diaper drive to comfort local families, a gift that cares for birds, and more.

5 Ways to Support Food & Housing for Neighbors in Tacoma & Beyond - Vol. 2
5 Ways to Support Food & Housing for Neighbors in Tacoma & Beyond - Vol. 2

We all get by with a little help from our friends. And really, we get by with a little help from strangers too. Be a friend or a friendly stranger by finding one way to support neighbors in the Tacoma community, in Pierce County, or across Washington by choosing from the 5 ways to give on our list. Support affordable housing and mental health, volunteer at a food bank, help prevent displacement due to gentrification, and serve or provide a community meal. Over time, we all have something to give and a real need to receive—most often it’s probably both at once.

Hi, I'm Michael Duggan, a licensed broker with Windermere Abode. I would love to help you through the home buying or selling process. Please contact me to set up a meeting and get things started.