Jan 30 Friday
Sponsored by KNKX. The 3rd Annual Olympia Funk Festival returns January 30–February 1, 2026, bringing three days of electrifying performances to Washington’s capital city. This year’s festival features funk powerhouses Tank and the Bangas, MonoNeon, and George Porter, Jr., alongside an all-star lineup of regional and national artists. With over 100 performers across 22 bands, the event continues to grow as a major cultural celebration in the Pacific Northwest.
KNKX returns as a proud media sponsor, supporting the festival’s mission to create an inclusive, joyful, and family-friendly experience that keeps live funk music thriving. The festival's venues include The Historic Capitol Theater, Olympia Ballroom, Olympia Center, and Ilk Brewing. Ilk Brewing will host free, all-ages programming including funk DJs and the Passing the Torch youth stage, while The Olympia Center will be home to free, educational masterclasses for aspiring musicians.
Beyond the stage, Olympia Funk Festival prioritizes affordability and access. Children 15 and under attend free, and tickets remain among the lowest priced for a multi-day music festival of this caliber — all to ensure that families and fans from across the country can experience the magic without breaking the bank.
KNKX is proud to support Olympia Funk Festival 2026 as it continues to cultivate the next generation of funk lovers and musicians through education, cultural exchange, and pure dance floor joy.
The period from the 1870s to the 1900s, known as the Gilded Age, saw the rise of the railroad, textile industry, and production. It also saw a rise in migration to US cities, providing workers to fill low paying jobs producing many of the fashions of the era. This era marked a turning point in fashion as new technologies and changing cultural norms transformed the ways in which people dressed.
Explore this history and enjoy the rare chance to see clothing, notions, and artifacts of the period from the Washington State Historical Society collections.
Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music unveils the profound legacy of Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul artists who shaped the soundscape of American culture and used their music as instruments of resistance, identity, and representation.
Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul embody the profound influence of African American music on culture and history. From the spiritual foundations and transformative movements of Gospel hymns to the revolutionary improvisations of Jazz, the Blues’ Southern roots rising from the Mississippi Delta, and Soul’s powerful amplification of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, these genres have defined the unique sound and undying spirit of a nation that continues to echo through contemporary Black music today.
This is a permanent exhibition. Since time immemorial, Tribal nations have existed in this place we call Washington. This Is Native Land invites visitors to understand Washington State through the lived experiences and voices of its Native people.
Tribal nations are sovereign nations. Today, Native history, culture, and community thrive in our state. Through everyday acts of sovereignty – big and small – Indigenous peoples demonstrate they are still here, they have persevered, and they will always be here.
This Is Native Land is guided by three teachings:We are of the land and watersWith knowledge comes responsibilitySovereignty protects people, lands, and waters
These teachings are shared through multimedia, artwork, and interactive objects designed for guest engagement. They represent a contemporary continuation of Tribal stories and traditions.
Over 100 Native contributors from more than 60 Tribes shaped the exhibition’s stories and content. We thank the Native Advisory Committee and all community participants for their contributions.
Stories are shaped by the ways we tell them. In Shaping the Story: Designs for the Theatre by Carey Wong, go behind the scenes to see how theatre sets bring stories to life. During a career spanning over 50 years, Carey Wong has designed sets and costumes for more than 300 productions, including operas, plays, musicals, and ballets.
This exhibition features scale models of his designs in addition to costumes, set pieces, and stories of Washington’s rich entertainment history. From sketches of an idea to fully realized sets, explore how a designer’s decisions craft the world of a story.
LeMay – America’s Car Museum proudly presents The Birth of the American Supercar, a groundbreaking exhibition guest curated by renowned automotive innovator Steve Saleen. This one-of-a-kind display invites guests on an exhilarating journey through the evolution of American supercars. From early speed pioneers to cutting-edge modern marvels, visitors will experience a stunning lineup of vehicles that have redefined engineering, speed, and style, built by a wide range of American automotive manufacturers like Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Saleen himself, and even some more obscure ones like Vector, Cunningham, and Hennessey. From roaring V8s to sleek carbon-fiber bodies, discover how American automakers pushed boundaries, challenged European rivals, and redefined what a supercar could be. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see some of the most thrilling and historically significant American-made performance vehicles ever built—all under one roof.
Discover how a new Nordic food movement has sparked interest in local ingredients and natural materials across borders and artistic disciplines.
New Nordic Cuisine is a movement that started in the Nordic countries in the early 2000s and has since grown into an international phenomenon.
With its interpretations of wild nature, the Nordic climate, local foodstuffs and culinary traditions, the movement spawned a distinctive aesthetic that was expressed in meals, tableware and restaurant interiors. Locally-sourced natural materials, animal skins and untreated wood, handmade ceramics and the use of wild vegetation as raw ingredients and for decoration all featured prominently.
"New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place" shows how this food movement merged with other contemporary cultural trends.
Through architecture, contemporary art, design and crafts from the museum’s collection, and objects loaned from various restaurants, the exhibition examines the “new Nordic” concept as a broad aesthetic development defined by the interaction between materials, people and landscape.
Childhood’s End Gallery presents its annual Studio Sale, featuring discounted and rarely seen works by beloved local artists including Jon Bradham, Sara Gettys, Kathy Gore-Fuss, Chuck Gumpert, Carla Paine, and Mimi Williams. The sale also includes a selection of unique, limited works by Marc Chagall, William Winden, and others. Begin the year with an exceptional find at a rare discount.
Jan 17 - Feb 22, 2026
Free
Childhood’s End Gallery222 4th Ave WOlympia WA 98501
360-943-3724
info@childhoods-end-gallery.com
Exciting news for our PNW plant community! PlantCon will be hosting a pop-up in Tacoma, Washington as part of the Tacoma Home & Garden Show from January 29th to February 1st. PlantCon will be bringing the “garden” to "Home & Garden" with a special area dedicated to its variety of plant sellers in the middle of the hall. Come shop from an array of plants, plant accessories/supplies, and even plant-themed artisanal goodies for FREE! Just show the associated flyer at entry.
Event Details:Date: January 29-February 1, 2026Time:Thursday-Saturday: 11:00 AM-7:00 PMSunday: 11:00 AM-5:00 PMLocation: Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma, WA 98421
Whether you’re a collector or just beginning your plant journey, there is something for everyone at the PlantCon Tacoma Home & Garden Show Pop-up. Come enjoy a slice of our show!
Oxbow's Winter Jazz Series.
December12 — Evan Captain's "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 19 — Oxbow’s (very festive) Christmas Party
January 9 — Luke Bergman / Aaron Otheim Trio16 — Kate Molloy Trio23 — Haley Freedlund Trio30 — The Last Word (Cole Schuster, Ray Larsen, Matt Weiner)
February 6 — Ray Larsen and Friends13 — Josh and Ray celebrate “Palentine’s Day”20 — The Royal We (Wayne Horvitz, Skerik, D’Vonne Lewis, Andy Coe, Geoff Harper)27 — Ray Larsen and Friends
