The summer season is officially here and exciting summer events on Mercer Island have just begun! From the Sunday Farmers Market to Shakespeare in the Park, every week on the island brings more music, activities, and celebrations of the season for all ages.
Mercer Island Farmers Market
Sundays, June 5th – September 29th, 10 am – 3 pm
The Mercer Island Farmers Market features beautiful produce and sustainably caught fish, pasture-raised meats, flowers, artisan crafts, ready-to-eat foods, and so much more. Weekly activities and entertainment also include:
- Children’s Table: Volunteers offer activities to enhance children’s understanding of food, gardening, and nature.
- Master Gardeners: offer advice and consultation to gardeners.
- Tastings: offered several times a month during the season to educate the community about farmers market products and promote healthy cooking and eating.
- Live music: presenting folk, rock, swing, bluegrass, gypsy jazz, blues, and more. All concerts are 11 am to 2 pm, except Yaamba Marimba on June 12th, which is 12 to 3 pm.
Summer Reading at the Mercer Island Library
June 1st – August 31st
Mercer Island Library, 4400 88th Ave SE
Pick up this year’s version of the colorful reading log at the library or track reading time online using the library’s app to participate in the summer reading program and earn prizes! The library hands out prizes after participants track 500 minutes and again after 1000 minutes – readers can bring their log to the library to redeem – and anything counts for the event, including someone else reading aloud or listening to an audiobook.
Shakespeare in the Park
Performances Thursday – Sunday in July & August, starting July 7th
Luther Burbank Park Amphitheater, 7 – 9 pm, 2040 84th Avenue SE
Wooden O and the Mercer Island Arts Council bring Shakespeare plays to life in engaging performances for all ages, enhanced by the outdoor setting of Luther Burbank Park. This year, Wooden O will feature Cymbeline and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Cymbeline demonstrates a modern, queer-forward telling of what happens with love goes array. An inventive fairy tale of innocence, jealousy, forbidden love, mistaken identities, banishment, and a magic potion, it tells the story of intrepid heroine Imogen matching wits with vivid, captivating, sometimes evil characters and darker themes that keep the story moving.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream shows how love makes us do strange things, and in this case, some puppets help the actors explain that. In the exploration of love and perception, confused lovers stumble through the woodlands, trying to find their way – a perfect connection to the park setting.
Mostly Music in the Park
Thursdays in July & August – 6 – 7:30 pm
FREE!
Mercerdale Park, 77th Avenue SE and SE 32nd Street
Bring your blanket, low-back chair, and picnic dinner! Join the fun at Mercerdale Park in July and August for the Mercer Island Arts Council’s annual summer concert series. Concerts feature various bands and artists from around the region, performing a wide variety of music.
Mostly Music in the Park 2022 Schedule:
- July 14: West Coast Feed – Swagger Rock/Soul
- July 21: Great American Trainwreck – Country Western
- July 28: Outside the Lines – Rockin’ Bluegrass
- August 4: Portage Bay Big Band – Big Band and Swing
- August 11: No Rules – Uptown Funk
Summer Celebration
Thursday, July 9th
Mercer Island’s Summer Celebration is the largest one-day family fun event held on the island. This year, it will again be held at two locations – Mercerdale Park, 11 am to 4 pm, and Luther Burbank Park, 6 to 10:45 pm. The event includes music and entertainment, food vendors, festivities, a fireworks show, parade, and nonprofit and community group booths. See below for some of the events and locations, with more yet to be finalized.
Mercerdale Park – 11 am to 4 pm
- Touch A Truck
- Food Trucks
- MI Non-Profit/Community Group Booths
- Sponsor and City of MI Booths
- MIMX Band – 12 to 2 pm
- Bubble Man – 1 pm
- Steffan Soule, Sponsored by Friends of the Library – 2:15 pm
- Puget Sound Band – 3:15 pm
- Mercerdale Playground Dedication – Grand Opening
Luther Burbank Park, 6 to 10:45 pm
- Food Trucks
- Brian Ledbetter, Family Magician – 6:30 pm
- Olson Brothers Band – 8 to 10 pm
- A spectacular firework show closes the day – 10 pm
Seafair Weekend – Boeing Seafair Airshow
Friday, August 5th – Sunday, August 7th
The best spots to watch on Mercer Island: Landings on 60th Ave, Park on the Lid, Groveland Park, I-90 floating bridge!
They are back! After a two-year hiatus, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron will fly their new Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet jets for the first time in the Pacific Northwest! Reaching speeds at nearly twice the speed of sound, their cutting-edge passes and stunning maneuvers will once again thrill viewers. Dubbed as an unofficial Seattle holiday and a must-see for families and thrill-seekers, Seafair Weekend culminates with one of the most impressive air shows in the country: the Boeing Seafair Air Show. Don’t miss your favorite aircraft flying again high in the sky over Genesee Park and Lake Washington during Seafair Weekend. Attendees won’t mistake the familiar roar of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels ripping through the air as they return for yet another heart-pounding performance in our great city. The Blue Angels will be flying from 2 pm to 4 pm daily.
