People visit Golden Gardens park in June. Photo: SDOT Please note – You can click any of the drop-down links to go directly to a specific topic:
- Tibet Fest
- Scooped! Ice Cream Festival
- HangarFest
- Seattle Folklorico Festival
- Mariners home games
- Construction snapshot
- Transit and trip planning resources
Happy weekend, Seattle! It’s hard to believe, but August is already winding down. Luckily, there are still fun events to help you make the most of the rest of summer. Heads up for this weekend: WSDOT has both Revive I-5 work and a full closure of SR 520 planned.
We also have some project work taking place around the city. When planning your weekend, consider riding transit like the Link light rail, King County Metro bus, or West Seattle Water Taxi. Or you can try one of the city’s many bike or scooter share options. Using alternative modes of travel lessens traffic and can help getting around go more smoothly for everyone.
See below for more weekend travel tips!
Community Celebrations and Events
Tibet Fest
Part of Seattle Center’s ongoing Festál series of free festivals and events, Tibet Fest is a two-day celebration of Tibetan culture featuring performances, historical and film exhibitions, a fashion show highlighting Tibetan designers, and meditation sessions. The fest will take place in Seattle Center’s Armory Food & Event Hall. The dates and times of the event are:
- Saturday, August 27, 11 AM – 5 PM
- Sunday, August 28, 12 – 6 PM
Located near the downtown area, Seattle Center is easy to access by transit. Travelers can take the Link light rail to Westlake station and connect to Seattle Center via the Monorail. You can also check out King County Metro bus routes 8, 32, and the RapidRide D Line.
Scooped! Ice Cream Festival
Another fun Seattle Center event is the Scooped! Ice Cream Festival. This event will show off more than 75 ice cream flavors from different vendors, as well as food trucks, live music, and family-friendly games and activities. The event will take place at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion on the following dates and times:
- Saturday, August 27, 12 – 10 PM
- Sunday, August 28, 12 – 6 PM
Tickets are available here.
Again, many transit options can get you to Seattle Center. Or you can try taking a bike or scooter share to go get your sweet treat!
HangarFest
On Saturday, August 27, from 7 to 10 PM, HangarFest will bring food trucks, live music, and local beer, cider, wine, and spirit tasting to the Museum of Flight’s Charles Simonyi Space Gallery and Aviation Pavilion. Guests ages 21 and older are invited to dance and take in the amazing sights of the museum on what’s forecasted to be a nice summer night.
You can find tickets to HangarFest here.
While free parking is available at the museum, Metro is also an option. Take route 124 directly to the museum by catching the bus downtown or at the Tukwila station.
Seattle Folklorico Festival
The first Seattle Folklorico Festival hosted by local organization Joyas Mestizas will take place Saturday, August 27 from 11 AM to 4 PM at Westcrest Park. The free event will celebrate traditional dances from across Mexico and feature local crafts, food vendors, and booths highlighting community organizations.
If you’re looking for transit options to the park, try King Country Metro bus routes 131 or 125.
Mariners home games
The Mariners have a series of home games at T-Mobile Park this weekend, drawing thousands of fans to the downtown area. First pitches against the Cleveland Guardians are scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Friday, August 26, 7:10 p.m. Saturday, August 27, and 1:10 p.m. Sunday, August 28.
T-Mobile Park is easy to access via transit. You can take the light rail to one of the downtown stations or consider one of the many bus routes serving the area.
Construction snapshot
SDOT construction work
West Seattle
- We’re paving California Ave SW between SW Walker St and SW Hill St on Saturday and Sunday. This work is anticipated to begin as early as 7 AM and conclude by 4 PM. There will be minor traffic impacts, however, please anticipate delays
- Starting Friday through Sunday, we’re paving 35th Ave SW from SW Edmunds to SW Alaska St. Both directions of traffic will be maintained, but drivers can expect delays in the area. Work is anticipated to begin at 7 AM and conclude by 4 PM.
- To improve visibility, our landscaping crews will be working on SW Roxbury St between 9th Ave S and 14th Ave S to clear vegetation. Work begins as early as 7 AM and concludes by 3 PM. There will be minor traffic impacts, however, you may experience delays while traveling through the area.
- Weather permitting, we will be installing intersection markings on two intersections starting Friday night at 9 PM through Saturday morning at 7 AM. The intersections we will be marking are: 1) 1st Ave S and East Marginal Way S and 2) 2nd Ave SW and Highland Park Way SW. Traffic lanes will be closed as needed and they will be restored after the intersection markings have been painted. Please anticipate delays and navigate the area with caution.
- As part of necessary maintenance work, we will also be replacing concrete panels on 16th Ave SW and SW Webster St. This work is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday and is anticipated to begin as early as 7 AM and conclude by 4 PM traffic in all directions will be maintained, but drivers can expect delays in the area.
For the latest SDOT travel information, follow our SDOT Traffic Twitter account @sdottraffic, or visit our Seattle Travelers web page for real time traffic camera information.
WSDOT construction work
SR 520 closure
From 11 PM Friday, August 26 until 5 AM Monday, August 29, the SR 520 bridge over Lake Washington will be closed in both directions between I-5 and the Eastside as crews install girders on the Montlake lid and realign the highway. While the bicycle and pedestrian trail across Lake Washington will remain open all weekend, drivers should plan to use alternate routes.
Revive I-5
Beginning at about 7:30 PM Friday, August 26, WSDOT will replace the final expansion joints on the left side of southbound I-5. All vehicles will use the collector/distributor and the express lanes will remain northbound all weekend because the merge point is inside the lane reduction area.
Travelers should also note that contractors will be completing paving work in addition to expansion joint work on I-5. Southbound I-5 will occasionally be reduced to one lane to finish some of this paving. All work will wrap up by 5 AM Monday, August 29.
Revive I-5 work is scheduled to continue every weekend this summer through around the end of September. Visit the Revive I-5 website and follow WSDOT on Twitter at @wsdot_traffic for the latest information.
Transit and trip planning resources
With some major road construction in store, we encourage you to consider transit to get around this weekend. The Link light rail and King County Metro both have useful resources to help you map your route. Using Metro’s trip planning tool or Sound Transit’s trip planning tool, you can enter your start and end addresses to find the transit route that works best for you. Google Maps also offers transit planning and biking, walking, and other trip planning options.
A friendly reminder that between August 19 and September 1, Sound Transit will be completing repair work at the Link light rail Columbia City station, which may result in service delays. You can read more about the planned work here.
Thank you
Thank you for taking the time to plan and consider different travel options. We hope you enjoy your weekend!
