6-Pack of Things To Do in Tacoma: Aug. 4–10, 2025
Because this week in Tacoma isn’t content to merely “offer options” — it’s flinging open the beer taps, unspooling banjo strings, detonating punk riffs, summoning Shakespearean fairies, and tossing you straight into Ari Aster’s cinematic furnace, all before the ink dries on your tasting tokens.
Grit & Grain Podcast | Wednesday, Aug. 6
This Wednesday, the Grit & Grain Podcast rolls tape with the fine fermenters at Four Generals Brewing, cracking open a conversation sure to include malt reverence, lager devotion, and at least one tangent about the noble weirdness of running a family brewery in a town that still thinks IPAs are personality traits. Expect raised voices, clinking glasses, and stories aged to perfection—because Grit & Grain doesn’t do interviews, it does taproom anthropology. Miss it? The crew will be back live from Brew Five Three this Saturday, broadcasting amid the sun-drenched chaos of Yakima Avenue, where beer flows, bands rage, and podcasting becomes a contact sport. Beer podcast, 3:30–5:30 p.m., Peaks & Pints, Proctor District, Tacoma, no cover
Peaks & Pints Draft Pick: While the Grit & Grain Podcast stirs the air with stories and suds, we’re tapping into something crisp, continental, and quietly rebellious: Four Generals Brewing’s German IPA. Lagered with care but dry-hopped like it stole something from Bavaria, it fuses noble hop bite with malt elegance—a pint with enough swagger to hold its own beside a live mic.
Eddington | Friday–Monday
Imagine if 2020—mask wars, conspiracy memes, neighbor-on-neighbor Facebook carnage—were crammed into a dusty New Mexico town, doused in Ari Aster’s cinematic gasoline, and set alight with Joaquin Phoenix glaring across the flames at Pedro Pascal. That’s Eddington: part neo-Western, part fever-dream satire, part “oh God, I remember this” trauma response. Emma Stone drifts through like an omen, Austin Butler smolders, and the whole thing unspools at the pace of a gunfight you’re not sure anyone should win. Hilarious until it isn’t. Political until it’s personal. A cracked mirror to America that dares you to look away. Bring your opinions, your pandemic flashbacks, and maybe a beer afterward to wash the existential dust from your teeth. Film, Blue Mouse Theatre, Friday, Aug. 8-11, Proctor District, showtimes at bluemousetheatre.com, photo courtesy of A24
Peaks & Pints Cooler Prefunk: Pair your pre-Eddington dread with E9 Brewing’s Sawtooth to Hell, a jagged, resin-laced West Coast IPA that lands like a moral dilemma wrapped in grapefruit pith—bitter, bright, and unapologetically sharp.
Rusty Cleavers Album Release Party | Friday, Aug. 8
Picture Tacoma’s Airport Tavern Music Hall as the epicenter of a barnstorming hootenanny: The Rusty Cleavers, our beloved boot-stompin’ punk-meets-bluegrass outfit, drop their first new album since 2017—13 tracks of love, lust, and loss, carved from banjos and rattling heartstrings. Doors open at 7 p.m., and by 8 the stage is a blur of riffs, sweat, and harmonies, joined by Sam Cori and The Cottonwood Cutups. Expect fist-pumping fervor, hoarse sing-alongs, and enough string-band grit to leave your boots buzzing. Punkgrass, 8 p.m., Airport Tavern Music Hall, 5406 S. Tacoma Way, Tacoma, 21+, $10 adv / $15 door
Peaks & Pints Cooler Prefunk: Fortify your dancing legs with Matchless Brewing’s Outdoor Stout, a roasty, campfire-kissed pour that drinks like a shared flask under festival lights—smooth enough to sip, sturdy enough to stand up to fiddle solos and foot-stomps.
Grit City Punk Fest at The Valley | Friday, Aug. 8
Imagine The Valley transformed into a sonic sweat lodge of pogo riffs, snarled vocals, and string-bending fury—Grit City Punk Fest kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with a relentless lineup: The Indicted, Just Barely, Street Justice, Eroder, Car Bombs, and The Autocratics. Six bands, one sweaty room, $15 at the door—no prisoners taken. Expect bootprints, ringing ears, and pure punk catharsis. Punk rock, 6 p.m., The Valley, 1206 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, 21+, $15 door
Peaks & Pints Cooler Prefunk: Pre-game with 8-Bit Brewing’s Ludus Occulta, a double dry-hopped West Coast IPA brewed with Brujos Brewing. Mosaic in all its guises, plus Nelson and Columbus Cryo, deliver waves of citrus, pine, and dank tropical hit—like a three-chord riff you can taste.
Brew Five Three | Saturday, Aug. 9
Tacoma’s summer-sun street sermon to beer, music, and civic joy— Tacoma Arts Live‘s Brew Five Three, the 253’s annual “Beer & Music Festival,” spills from the historic Tacoma Armory onto a Yakima Avenue closed just for you and a few thousand of your closest taster glass-sipping friends. From 1-7 p.m., the block transforms into a sudsy carnival of regional breweries, cideries, and meaderies, pouring in the street and inside, flanked by food trucks, raffles, games, live music, and the Grit & Grain Podcast (3:30 p.m.) Proceeds fuel Tacoma Arts Live’s work in performance and youth arts education. It’s 21+, leashed-dog-friendly, bike- and transit-easy. Each ticket gets you a tasting glass and eight tokens—regular $63, day-of $68, or $15.50 for DDs just here for the tunes and tacos. Beer & music festival, 1-7 p.m., Tacoma Armory & Yakima Avenue, 21+, tickets at tacomaartslive.org, photo courtesy of Tacoma Arts Live
Shakespeare in the Park: A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Saturday, Aug. 9
Picture a midsummer twilight—Wright Park draped in fairy glow, crowds sprawled on blankets, wine-colored sky overhead—when Puck crashes the party. Parks Tacoma presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream, staged across four August dates at Wright Park, STAR Center, Titlow Park, and Norpoint Park—performed by South Sound talent. Free, family-friendly, lawn-chair Shakespeare served without the velvet trappings, and yes, you can bring a picnic. Bring your blanket and a wide-eyed sense of wonder. Free Shakespeare in the Park, Aug. 9 at Wright Park (7 p.m.), Aug. 10 at STAR Center (6 p.m.), Aug. 16 at Titlow Park (6 p.m.), Aug. 17 at Norpoint Park (6 p.m.); lawn seating, photo courtesy of Parks Tacoma
Peaks & Pints Cooler Prefunk: Lean into the whimsy with Funny Fauna’s Forest Fizz Blueberry Lemonade, a sparkling, tart-kissed hard seltzer that tastes like woodland mischief in a can—bright, juicy, and perfect for moonlit midsummer mischief.
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