Best of the City Arts Fest

Our must-see picks for Seattle's newest music and arts festival.

By: Brangien Davis  |   October 2011   |  FROM THE PRINT EDITION

John Osebold

For the second year in a row, the City Arts Festival is bringing arts of all genres to venues across Seattle (10/20–10/22; times, prices and venues vary; cityartsfest.com). If it all feels too gloriously overwhelming, just focus on our must-see picks below.

MUSIC: The Long Winters, Cobirds Unite, Cataldo and Campfire OK (10/20; Showbox at the Market): It’s a Northwest-band-a-ganza, featuring Seattle indie rockers established and emerging.

POETRY: The Ecstasy of Influence (10/20; Town Hall): Seattle poet Heather McHugh reads, along with other Northwest luminaries who happen to have been her students: Kary Wayson, Kate Lebo and Erika Wilder.

DANCE: Genre-Bender (10/21; The Can Can): Acclaimed Seattle dancers—including Amy O’Neal, Rainbow Fletcher and Mark Haim—pair with talented local filmmakers, poets, performance artists and cooks to create new work, and perhaps entirely new genres.

THEATER: Seateeth (10/20 & 10/22; Theater Off Jackson): Fresh from receiving a well-deserved Stranger “Genius Award,” theatrical musician John Osebold (aka Jose Bold) performs a theatrical/musical show about a man and a whale. Expect weirdness in the very best way.