It’s summer in South Sound and entertainment al fresco abounds this weekend
Viva ‘Vivo’
Tumwater’s summer movie series Screen on the Green opens Friday, July 21, with the 2021 animated musical “Vivo,” starring Lin Manuel Miranda as a kinkajou, a raccoon relation that dwells in the treetops of South and Central America. Miranda also provided the music, which features the “Hamilton” creator’s signature wordplay. The film got solid reviews, with the BBC’s Nicholas Barber summing it up as “a warm, colorful family-friendly tribute to all things Cuban.” The movie starts at 10:15 p.m. at Tumwater Valley Golf Course, 4611 Tumwater Valley Drive SE. Bring a picnic and a blanket and/or low-backed chair for the city’s free flicks, which continue weekly through Aug. 11.
Party at the port
The Port of Olympia is celebrating the season — and its view of the water and the Olympic Mountains — with Summer Nights at the Port, a pair of events featuring free music, food trucks and a beer garden. The first concert, with the interestingly named country-cover combo Uncle Daddy and the King Tide, happens from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 22, at the port’s NorthPoint, 1210 Marine Drive NE, Olympia. The food and drinks, including brews by Headless Mumby, go on sale at 5 p.m. There’s a second night with music by Fleetwood Mac tribute outfit The Little Lies happening Aug. 5. The people at the port suggest bringing chairs and blankets and dressing in layers.
Pine Hearts play the park
Olympia bluegrass-folk trio The Pine Hearts, known for heartfelt original songs and three-part harmonies, are playing a free downtown Olympia show July 23 as part of the Olympia Downtown Alliance’s Music in the Park. The Hearts, who’ve toured coast to coast and made a series of radio spots in the UK, describe their sound as “ever-changing, harnessing classic country songwriting, the powerful emotive themes of experimental folk and the blazing-fast pickin’ rhythms of traditional Appalachian bluegrass — all the while staying rooted to their rock-n-roll backgrounds.” The concert is from 1 to 2 p.m. in Sylvester Park, 615 Washington St. SE, Olympia. No worries if it’s a hot day: The alliance has erected canopies to provide more shade, and both Sophie’s Scoops gelato and Batdorf and Bronson iced coffee are for sale in the park.
When she researched kinkajous, freelance writer Molly Gilmore was astonished to learn that some people keep them as pets. She talks about what’s happening in Olympia and beyond with 95.3 KGY-FM’s Michael Stein from 3 to 4 p.m. Fridays.