Summer in Edmonds, Washington's first Certified Creative District, is simply wonderful, alive with color, sights, and sounds. There is so much to do here. You’ll definitely need more than a day to take it all in.

So, treat yourself to everything this town does best, from prize-winning arts and culture, food and drink, and the great outdoors, to finding a little piece of your heart among the well-curated mom ‘n pop shops tucked alongside wildlife habitats and succulent, lush gardens in full bloom.

Save the dates for these fun activities, events, and adventures:

The long-awaited Edmonds Arts Festival returns, back to its Father’s Day Weekend slot, at the Frances Anderson Center on 700 Main St., Fri., 10 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Browse close to 200 juried art booths outside and more award-winning creations inside the Gallery, plus a Small Works Marketplace — new this year — as well as lots of student art, including those of Edmonds Arts Festival Foundation's college scholarship winners.

Get a sneak peek at the 20+ Edmonds Art Studio Tour artists and their latest masterpieces ahead of their Sept. 17-18 event, and enjoy their demos On the Plaza at the Frances Anderson Center (above Edmonds Library), a new, refocused venue for resident artists and artists who show in the area. 

Bliss out to live music at the Edmonds Plaza Jazz Festival, while nibbling on delicious fare from food booths and food trucks, and watch your kids experience their own kind of art, hands-on.

Save some time on Sun., June 19, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., for a Juneteenth Kind of Father’s Day Picnic at Esperance Park, hosted by Lift Every Voice Legacy (LEVL) and South Snohomish/North King County regional partners. The Festival of Freedom celebrates Juneteenth’s Emancipation Day and Freedom Day with live entertainment, free BBQ and red velvet cupcakes, storytelling, and face-painting, games, and arts and crafts the kids can get into. Juneteenth remembers June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers freed the last of the African-American slaves in the Confederate South, down in Galveston, TX. Program: 1:30 p.m.

Edmonds Summer Wine Walks (21+) pair local vintners with small local businesses for a good cause — Art Walk Edmonds (AWE) — and for a nice time strolling, sipping, socializing, and shopping downtown, June 25 (sold out) and Aug. 6 (almost there!), 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Small businesses host select, Pacific NW boutique wineries, where vintners present some of their best, curated wines for visitors to sample, and perhaps consider purchasing.

June selections include the good stuff from Woodinville Ciderworks and Drum Roll Wine at Edmonds Historical Society & Museum, Naches Heights Vineyard – Interiors of Edmonds, and Wandering Wolf Cellars – The Paper Feather, as well as bonus tastings at Arista Wine Cellars and Dusted Valley Wine Bar.

Some Aug. tastings to look forward to: TruthTeller Winery – Coldwell Banker Bain, Elevation Cellars – Create Next Steps, and Sky River Brewing (meade and honey wine) – Pelindaba Lavender. 

While you're at the second and last Wine Walk of the year, make some memories with your crew by taking snapshots in the professional photo booth, c/o Krause & Thorpe Wealth Management Team.

Purchase tickets early, as the event sells out fast.

Non-profit organization Art Walk Edmonds puts on a symbiotic, interactive, immersive show between talented, local artists, the shops that host them, and the general art-loving public in search of lasting inspiration to take home. AWE happens every third Thurs. of every month, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.

For those unable to attend the casual meet-and-greet, there’s always Art View Edmonds, where they can window-shop, admire, and buy featured art on display in traditional and non-traditional galleries during business hours, at their leisure, throughout the month.

An Edmonds Kind of 4th is one of the most popular events of the year. And no wonder. There’s a main parade at noon, with a children’s version a half-hour earlier, a Beat Brackett 5k run and Baby Brackett 1k run/walk, fireworks, and plenty of time to explore artisan shops, restaurants, and galleries. This 4th, the Edmonds Chamber sponsors/supports the fireworks show over Lake Ballinger, produced by the City of Mountlake Terrace, July 3.

A most offbeat 5k, Beat Brackett pits registered runners against Old Man Brackett, a person dressed up like the Edmonds founder, with a beard and everything. Baby Brackett 1k is better suited for families and those who prefer to take their time to get to the finish line. Virtual race available.

Every year, as the flowers blossom and the trees come back to life, Edmonds in Bloom gets ready for its annual Garden Tour, an event that’s been opening up private residential gardens to an appreciative public since 1997. Volunteers behind the Garden Tour have curated eight outstanding gardens blooming with diversity and character, and available for viewing July 17, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The gardens will take visitors from The Bowl, downtown, to Five Corners, and Westgate, as musicians perform live and artists put impressions to canvas, inspired by their floral surroundings.

Nothing beats the fresh Taste (of) Edmonds on a hot summer day. The food and entertainment bonanza’s held outdoors, with the kids running around and the band playing everyone’s favorite songs. Taste Edmonds returns to Frances Anderson Playfield Aug. 19-21, Fri./Sat., noon-9 p.m., and Sun., noon-8 p.m., for all ages this time. Look for lots of food trucks, art and home goods vendors, a cornhole tournament, and activities for the littles. The tasty event has been a major Edmonds Chamber fundraiser — and a huge draw — since 1982.

Summer in the Park features amazing, diverse musicians and performers well-versed in jazz, folk rock, bluegrass, Flamenco, even Shakespeare. Grab a blanket, pack a picnic lunch — or pick one up from The Potlatch Bistro at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, and head over to City Park (Sun., 3 p.m.-4 p.m.), Hickman Park, and Hazel Miller Plaza (Tues./Thurs., 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m.) for live music and performances.

Acts you won’t want to miss: Edmonds-Woodway High School Woodwind Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble, June 26, 3 p.m.-4 p.m., and Wooden O – Seattle Shakespeare Co.’s “Cymbeline,” July 17, 3 p.m.-4:45 p.m., City Park; Sustain Music Project, Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” July 24, 3 p.m.-4 p.m., Hickman Park; and Los Flacos, July 21, Rainbow of Hawai’i, Aug. 9, and ADEFUA, Aug. 23, Hazel Miller Plaza. Refer to the City of Edmonds’ concert section for all events, times, and places.

Hold onto those blankets, because Edmonds Parks and Recreation’s Family Outdoor Movie Nights return with free movies — “Encanto” at Frances Anderson Center, July 15; “The Mighty Ducks” – Seaview Park, July 22; “Luca” – Hickman Park, July 29; and “Night at the Museum” – City Park, Aug. 5. Movies start 15 min. before the sun sets. Cash-only concessions.

Start the weekend early by loading up at Edmonds Museum Summer Market, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in downtown Edmonds on 5th St. from Main at the fountain to Bell and east up Bell St. around Centennial Plaza. Over 90 family-owned vendors come to share the bounty and the joy. This year, the spring and summer markets combine for a May 7-Oct. 8th run. Find one-of-a-kind jewelry, fougasse, Skagit Valley-grown strawberries and mushrooms, funky, fierce garden art, sea salted hazelnuts, the fresh catch of the day on ice, Finnriver Cider, and so much more.

Edmonds Waterfront is the unofficial gathering place for sun worshippers, outdoorsy types, birders and Puget Sound Express whale watchers, and anyone looking for a peaceful place to land. Everywhere you look is a beautiful moment, captured in time: walkable, smooth-sand beaches, Underwater Park marine sanctuary, fishing pier, ferry landing, sea-themed art installations, and those priceless views of Puget Sound and the mountainous horizon.

Maybe, just maybe, you’ll also see the Brackett’s Landing Mermaids getting ready for an open-water swim and Olympic Beach’s Bubble Man, blowing gargantuan, rainbow-colored magic for children and children at heart.

Magic.

For more to see and do and experience, visit the City of Edmonds calendar.

Feature photo of Brackett's Landing Mermaids by Matt Hulbert.
Additional photos by Janine Harles and Carol Banks Weber.