3 days of Pride are the big events this weekend -- but art pop-up, symphony also on the bill

Parade, festival and weddings at Pride

This year’s Capital City Pride Festival, happening Friday, June 27, through Sunday, June 29, is packed with action, including the colorful and musical parade, outdoor entertainment and parties — and even a group wedding, set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Port Plaza viewing tower, 701 Columbia St. NW, Olympia. Other highlights of the celebration include:

• A block party with music, drag performances, art and games, from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Fifth Avenue and Water Street in downtown Olympia.

• The Music and Art Fest, with live music, a flash mob, voguing, drag and more, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Port Plaza and Percival Landing.

• An LGBTQ+ health and wellness fair, with a panel discussion, pole dancing workshop and a quiet room, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia.

• The Pride Parade & Rally from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, beginning at Tivoli Fountain on the Capitol Campus and proceeding to Heritage Park along the northeast shore of Capitol Lake.

• Dyke Day in the Park, featuring DJs and dancing, from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday in Heritage Park.

Olympia Symphony Orchestra joins Pride

The Olympia Symphony Orchestra’s much-loved free outdoor concert is back — and this summer, it’s part of Capital City Pride. The orchestra, conducted by Alexandra Arrieche, will perform at 11 a.m. Saturday at Port Plaza. The concert, “Believe,” will feature selections from Jonathan Larson’s “Rent,” performed by actors and musicians from Harlequin Productions’ current show. Also on the program: Molly Turner’s “Divas,” Camille Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Serenade for Strings,” and Giacomo Puccini’s “Musetta’s Waltz,” from the opera “La Boheme,” which inspired “Rent.” This will be a big summer for Arrieche, who’ll conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in July at the prestigious Ravinia Music Festival in Highland Park, Illinois.

Art pops up in the alley

The 5th annual Art ’N The Alley is coming Saturday, June 28, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the alley behind 509 Decatur St. SW, Olympia, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. Local artist Taylor Clinton is again hosting the west Olympia pop-up art show that started out of a desire to publicly display art during the pandemic. This year’s show will feature nine Olympia-based artists, including Julie Clendenen Simpson, the 2023 Spokane ArtFest award winner, who had her own exhibition at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane this past winter. She will be showing her woven textiles and her colorful botanical paintings and prints. New to the show this year is painter Austin Davis who recently refurbished ‘The Great Wave’ mural on the side of Childhood’s End in downtown Olympia. Also showing this year are Carlos Barnav (paintings), LineMarker (graphic design), Maggie Jekel-Penn (mosaics), Rose Nicholas (paintings), Francisco Reyes (woodworking), and Mariana Vera (colored pencil). There will be live music throughout the day. For more information, go to the Facebook page and Instagram @art_n_the_alley.

Freelance writer Molly Gilmore talks with DJ Kevin the Brit about what’s happening around town on KGY-FM’s “Oly in a Can,” airing at 2 p.m. Fridays.