Happy June! Can you believe another month has passed? At least we’re that much closer to summer. Speaking of which, we’ve got tips today for a variety of ways to spend the gradually warming-month: on a hike, at a restaurant, learning about Seattle’s gay history, or even spending an afternoon in the dark watching a bleak movie. Read on for what our team thinks you should do this month!
Ben’s Guide to Farmers Markets
June might just be the best time of the year to hit up Seattle’s extensive farmers market scene - decent weather, smaller crowds than the summer, and they’re all actually open (looking at you, Queen Anne, who didn’t open until the end of May…). But better than the farmers markets, alone? The food at the farmers markets. Here are some of our favorites you should try on your next visit:
- Ballard Farmers Market (open year round, Sundays 9am-2pm): Ignore the length of the line for quesadillas at the Patty Pan Cooperative stand. The food is worth the wait!
- Queen Anne Farmers Market (May 28-October 8, Thursdays 3-7:30pm): Queen Anne's roster has 75 farms and business participating this year, but I'm most excited about trying Kathmandu Momocha, which is Nepalese Cuisine, and Tolu Modern Fijian Cuisine.
- South Lake Union Farmers Market (June 6-November 21, Saturdays 10am-3pm): The SLU Farmers Market is completely renewed starting June 6. I can’t wait to try some of the meat and potatoes brought by Olsen Farms, or beautiful seasonal fruit from A.C.M.A Mission Orchard - one of the first fully organic orchard farms in Washington!
- Capitol Hill Farmers Market (open year round, Sundays 11am-3pm; June-September, Tuesdays 3-7pm): If you’re craving just a really good pastry or bread product, Kaffeklatsch is the answer. They’re a family-owned German bakery and every treat feels like my grandma made it.
- Madison Park Farmers Market (May 16-October 17, Saturdays 10am-2pm): I’ve been eating all the cookie flavors from Cookies with Tiffany since the pandemic days, and I’d say they’re partly to blame for my constant late-night snacking.
- Central District Farmers Market (May 15-October 30, Fridays 3-7pm): Formerly the Madrona Farmers Market, the CDFM has a pre-made hummus, chips, and dips spot - The Mediterranean - I’ve been wanting to try, since I need to find new add-ons for my weekly boy dinners.
Sam’s Guide to Pride Month
June is Pride Month, and there’s no shortage of great events around town. Here are a few of my picks:
- Gays Eating Garlic Bread in the Park is back on June 6! Need I say more?
- I’ve sung the praises of TUSH many times on this show and we recently published a guide to Seattle through the eyes of TUSH’s illustrious host Betty Wetter, but for all you queers out there (and straights with good taste who tip well), the pride show is not to be missed.
- Go support Wildrose, one of the oldest lesbian bars in the country, during their full weekend of events.
- You’ve heard of the Seattle Underground, but did you know that Pioneer Square was the original gayborhood? Beneath the Streets hosts a Queer Underground History tour Sundays at 1pm. Learn about the queer underground dance clubs, corrupt cops and why the queer community moved to Capitol Hill. I learned so much!
- Friends of Denny Blaine is hosting a gathering for ‘knit in public day.’ If your fiber arts activities feel better in the nude, go find your people!
Jane’s Guide to the Outdoors
We all know summer doesn’t really start until July here, but we almost always get a string of beautiful days in June. If you’re looking to get outside — or if you have summer visitors you want to impress — here are a few of my favorite things to do:
- Go on an urban hike: We’re lucky to have gorgeous public parks that make you feel like you’re deep in the woods while still being only a 15 minute walk from a great restaurant or bar you can hit up after! My favorites are Discovery Park (Magnolia), Lincoln Park (West Seattle), and Ravenna Park (Ravenna).
- Take public transit to the Issaquah Alps: Trailhead Direct started running in May, and does all the driving for you out to hikes along I-90! There are stops downtown, and in Capitol Hill, Judkins Park, Mt Baker, and Bellevue. There are two lines that take you to local classics: one to Mount Si, and another to Margaret’s Way. If you have access to a car and are looking to get out further, use the Washington Trails Association’s Hike Finder to plan your next adventure — it lets you search by mileage, elevation, accessibility, and more.
- Get on two wheels: For a chill ride, the Burke Gilman offers 20 miles of relatively flat, protected trail that takes you past a plethora of great restaurants, breweries and parks to stop at. It also connects up north to the Sammamish River Trail, so if you’re looking for a longer ride, take the trails all the way to Woodinville’s wineries (my fav is Chateau St. Michelle) for a glass of Washington wine! My other go-to loops are a tour of Magnolia and a spin around Mercer Island. Or if you’re feeling really spicy….
- …Ride the Taco Bell Century! If you’re looking to get out on two wheels, I’m hosting a 100-mile ride on June 13 that hits up 10 Taco Bells in the Puget Sound.
Liam’s Guide to Bleak Week
Here’s a thing about me, Seattle: I love depressing movies. I don’t mean sad, I mean earth-shatteringly bleak films about the darkest parts of our humanity. I think, weirdly, they make me feel better and lighter. Which is why I’m so excited that this year, our friends at the Beacon Cinema are participating in the global film festival Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair. What started in LA a few years ago has grown to 73 cities and 100 theaters across the country and world. There’s a bunch of really good (soul-crushing) options, but here are a few of my favorite bummer movies the Beacon is programming in Seattle. Suffice it to say, viewer discretion advised for all of these films!
- Funny Games: Austria’s Michael Haneke is one of movie’s great provocateurs, and he arguably got his reputation from this sadistic, funny, and mean movie about how we are implicated by the violence we enjoy on screen. An incredible movie! Haneke is one of the great living filmmakers in my opinion.
- Come and See: I saw this film far too young after checking it out of the library and it really shook me to my core. Elim Klimov’s anti-war masterwork was so brutal even in script form that it took seven years for Soviet censors to approve the script.
- Dancer In The Dark: The move that made Danish nihilist and firebrand Lars Von Trier an international name, this (Washington set!) melodrama about a woman (Bjork, who quit acting after this film) going blind once made a friend hit me after we saw it together (I had suggested it). Also, it’s an old-school Hollywood musical!
- Elephant: Another film with a PNW connection, Gus Van Sant’s Oregon-set school shooting drama won the main prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is a masterclass in dread-inducing long takes. I once saw this on a date (not recommended, but worth seeing)!
- Salo, Or The Last 120 Days of Sodom: Maybe the absolute OG of bleak cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini took a story by the Marquis de Sade and set it in Italy in 1944. Absolutely not for the faint of heart, as I understand it. I have never seen this one, and I already have my ticket for one of the screenings. I can’t wait.
Looking for more stuff to do in June? Listen to our June Guide episode of the podcast!
