What’s happening this week around Thurston County
Tuesday, June 17
StoryOly on the theme “Gut Feeling”: StoryOly is a live monthly oral storytelling competition. The general public (21+) is invited to tell a personal true story on stage based on the monthly theme. Each teller is scored by a group of 3 volunteer judges. Stories must be true and 8 minutes or less in duration. Judges are asked to rate each teller on their ability to tell a good story. The winner of each monthly slam wins a cash prize and qualifies to participate in the StoryOly Grand Slam in September. The event begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Brotherhood Lounge, 119 Capitol Way N, Olympia. Admission is by a suggested donation of $10-20 at the door, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Half of the door funds are donated to local charities and nonprofits.
Wednesday, June 18
Civics 101 Workshop at the Olympia Timberland Library: Civics 101 is a nonpartisan interactive workshop series designed to demystify how government works and explore various methods and practical tools for engagement with government. Wednesday’s session will be focused on local government, with guest speakers from the city of Olympia. The free session will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the library, 313 Eighth Ave. SE.
Thursday, June 19
3rd annual Juneteenth Celebration of Belonging: Join the ASHHO Cultural Community Center from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 19 for a Juneteenth celebration that honors belonging, culture, and community. This free, family-friendly event will feature live music, soul food, Black Excellence Achievement Awards and a guided art session led by Hearts for the Arts and Crafts. ASHHO Cultural Community Center is at 5757 Littlerock Road SW, Tumwater. RSVP online. Contact 360-918-8625 or info@ashho.org for more information.
Friday, June 20
LoveOly SummerFest 2025: This free three-day street festival hosted by the Olympia Downtown Alliance is set for Friday through Sunday, June 20-22, in downtown Olympia. Friday’s hours are 3-9 p.m. and include a biergarten, children’s entertainment powered by Hands On Children’s Museum, live music, games, buskers and makers market vendors. Saturday hours are 11 am to 9 pm and include the biergarten, children’s entertainment, live music, buskers, Super Smash Bros. competition and a Chalk Art competition. On Sunday at 11 am, there will be a Diva Drag Brunch, and a performance by Olympia surf-punk combo The Proffits at noon, interspersed with personal stories of growing up in the local music scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s. All weekend there will be pop-up options from local culinary favorites Chicory, Dos Hermanos, Sofie’s Scoops, and more.
Rochester Citizens Group’s Swede Day Celebration: This event is actually two days — Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21 — in Rochester. This annual festival celebrating traditional Swedish culture includes a traditional Swedish Pancakes Breakfast, a Meatball Lunch, Strawberry Shortcake, the grand Swede Day Parade, and a festive Maypole Dance. The Grand Marshals will be Dick, Nancy, and Stan Erickson, and Inger Svensson Jullery from Sweden will be the festival’s first-ever Honorary Rochester Citizen for the Day. On Friday, the Royalty Coronation will take place at Swede Hall and a new Swede Day Queen will be chosen from the current court. The Coronation will take place at 6 p.m., is free to attend and will feature Strawberry Shortcake. Following the Coronation will be the Royalty Court Coronation Ball from 7-10 p.m. in the Swede Hall Main Event Room; the cost is $10. Saturday will start off with a traditional Swedish Pancake Breakfast at Swede Hall from 7 to 9 a.m.: cost is $7 for adults, $5 for 12 and younger. From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be arts, crafts and food vendors in the Swede Hall Parking lot. The 46th Annual Swede Day Rochester Mid-Sommer Festival Parade will take place at 11 a.m. on Highway 12; it begins at Paulson Street, proceeds west to Albany Street, turns left, and continues to Swede Hall. Shuttle starts running at 7 a.m. and will run every 10-15 minutes. Parade spectators are encouraged to park at the shuttle stops: Gresham Street field across from Subway, middle school parking lot, and school district office parking lots. The traditional Maypole dance will take place in the afternoon, and everyone is encouraged to join. It will take place in front of Swede Hall at the flagpole.
Stomp And Shout — The Untold Story of Northwest Rock & Roll: Head to the Olympia Timberland Library at 6:30 p.m. Friday, June 20, to hear Peter Blecha, the author of ”Stomp And Shout: R&B and the Origins of Northwest Rock And Roll,” which was recently named as a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. His talk will include rare vintage photos of musicians, bands and dance halls from the 1940s-1960s, plus musical snippets from rare vintage records. He will talk about how bluesy music arrived in the Northwest in the 1940s along with the migration of Black musicians from the South; how the first generation of local rockin’ teenagers were inspired by the music of Ray Charles and other newcomers; and how those musicians forged a distinct offshoot that became known as the “original Northwest Sound.” Blecha grew up in Olympia and lives in Seattle. He is the director of the Northwest Music Archives, a founding curator at MoPop, and a longtime staff historian at historylink.org. The presentation is free; the library is at 313 Eighth Ave. SE.
Summer Nights at the Port featuring ABBAgraphs: The Port of Olympia will host live music, food trucks and a beer garden at three Summer Nights at the Port waterfront events planned for Fridays, June 20, June 27, and July 11. This first event will feature the ABBA tribute band ABBAgraphs. The free, family-friendly events will take place at the lot next to the Swantown Marina Boat Launch Parking Lot located at the Port’s NorthPoint, 1210 Marine Drive NE, Olympia. Parking is at Swantown Marina Boat Launch. The beer garden is hosted by Northwest Beerwerks.
Saturday, June 21
Olympia’s annual Juneteenth Festival Celebration: The Women of Color in Leadership Movement and City of Olympia are hosting this event from 1-5 p.m. Saturday at the site of Rebecca Howard Park, 911 Adams St. SE. The event will help support the development of the park named for a Black woman who owned and operated the Pacific House Hotel on what is now Capitol Way from the late 1850s to the 1870s, renowned for service and hospitality.
Grand reopening at TCMedia: Head over to TCMedia at 2 p.m. Saturday to meet Thurston Community Media’s new co-directors, Tamara Erazo and Martha Correa, walk through its updated studio space, and hear about the new TCMedia vision and how to keep local media in the community. RSVP online. TCMedia is at 440 Yauger Way SW, Suite C, Olympia.
WET Science Center’s When Life Gives You Lemons: If lemons can be turned into lemonade, why not turn wastewater into something great too? Come sip some sweet lemonade and learn how we recover wastewater resources through hands-on activities, from sand art bottles to biosolid flower planters. Activities run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia. Admission is free.
Furniture Bank open: The nonprofit all-volunteer Thurston County Furniture Bank is open the first and third Saturdays of every month from 9 am to noon at 2121 Log Cabin Road SE, Olympia. The Furniture Bank building is at the back of the parking lot. Donations of gently used furniture are accepted. Pick up of donations within a limited geographical area (15 minutes from building) can be arranged but usually takes 3-4 weeks. Those looking for furniture are welcome. For more information, go to Furniture Bank of Thurston County-Olympia CRC
Sunday, June 22
Olympia Chamber Orchestra presents “Dreamscapes”: This concert begins at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Capital High School Performing Arts Center, 2707 Conger Avenue, in west Olympia. The program features Dream Machine by Brian Balmages, GliUccelli (The Birds) by Ottorino Respighi, and Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. Tickets can be purchased at OlympiaChamberOrchestra.org on the “Performances” page. General Admission is $25; seniors, post-secondary students and military pay $15; high school students and younger pay $5.
Would you like to have your event included in our weekly What’s Happening calendar? Email the details to news@theolympian.com at least 10 days before the event. Please put What’s Happening in the subject line.