6-Pack of Things To Do in Tacoma: Oct. 13-19, 2025
Because Tacoma this week hums like a live wire strung between art and anarchy — pencils trembling, pints foaming, guitars testifying, and ghosts rehearsing for their big parade. Even the sidewalks feel caffeinated, creation spilling out of classrooms and taprooms in one ecstatic exhale. From charcoal sketches to hop-soaked sermons, kung-fu remixes to costumed delirium, this city is a full-sensory fever dream — proof the line between ordinary and electric runs straight through 26th Street.
Tacoma Arts Month: Introduction to Drawing @ Artsi Creative Space | Monday, Oct. 13
Every masterpiece starts with a line — hesitant, trembling, alive. At Artsi Creative Space, Tacoma’s own creative incubator on Tacoma Avenue South, the “Introduction to Drawing” class invites even the most pencil-shy souls to loosen their grip on fear and rediscover the raw joy of mark-making. Charcoal dust, soft laughter, and the slow hum of discovery fill the room as beginners learn to see shapes as invitations, not obstacles. Two hours of unlearning self-doubt and letting your hand remember what your heart’s known all along: that creation isn’t about talent, it’s about permission. Tacoma Arts Month class, 12–2 p.m. (doors 11:30 a.m.), Artsi Creative Space, 2323 Tacoma Ave S., Tacoma, $35, tickets via Eventbrite, walk-ins welcomed
Peaks & Pints Tacoma Arts Month In The Cooler: E9 Brewing All Too Well
Each day this month, Peaks & Pints highlights one Tacoma Arts Month event paired with a postfunk beer — a small toast to the city’s makers, dreamers, and doers. After the smudges fade and the muse stops whispering, head to Peaks & Pints for today’s pick: E9 Brewing All Too Well. It’s Tacoma craftsmanship in a can — crisp yet brooding, malt and citrus trading lines like actors mid-scene. Sip slow, let the bitterness linger, and toast to the most radical act of all: to begin.
Grit & Grain Podcast: Double Episode Recording @ Peaks & Pints | Wednesday, Oct. 15
Two stories, one mic, infinite foam. Peaks & Pints hosts a back-to-back Grit & Grain Podcast taping that reads like beer scripture. First, Ron Swarner recounts his Great American Beer Festival 2025 pilgrimage — a beer each from 47 states, one delirious Denver, ten thousand hopheads breathing the same holy air. Then co-host Matt McLaren leads us into Indiana’s Corn Maze Beer Fest, a haunted labyrinth of taps, stalks, and revelry. Episode 164 follows with Ericka Baird conjuring beer-and-cheese alchemy so sensual it borders on sorcery. Two hours of flavor, travel, and devotion. Podcast taping 3:30–5:30 p.m., Peaks & Pints Event Room, 3816 N. 26th St., no cover
Peaks & Pints Tap Tasting: Barrel Mountain Ash CloudRaise a glass with the crew to the newly minted GABF Gold winner, Barrel Mountain Brewing‘s Ash Cloud — all biscuit warmth and caramel glow, the kind of amber that makes balance feel like revelation.
Jason D. Williams, Supersuckers & Wayne “The Train” Hancock | Thursday, Oct. 16
Some nights require both earplugs and redemption. Airport Tavern Music Hall becomes a sanctuary for the loud and the faithful: Jason D. Williams (pictured) pounding piano like a man trying to set it aflame, the Supersuckers roaring through punk-country grit, and Wayne “The Train” Hancock preaching honky-tonk salvation. Three prophets, one gospel — rockabilly, roots, and raw abandon. Concert, doors 7 p.m., show 8 p.m., Airport Tavern Music Hall, 5406 S. Tacoma Way, 21+, tickets at airporttavern.com, photo courtesy of Atomic Music
Peaks & Pints Cooler Prefunk: Hetty Alice Deep Cut
Before the amps catch fire, crack Hetty Alice Beers’ Deep Cut resinous IPA — citrus and pine riffing like a Telecaster solo. A can with swagger and swing, brewed for nights when rhythm outweighs reason.
CAN I KICK IT? featuring Enter the Dragon | Friday, Oct. 17
Forget passive movie nights — this one punches back. CAN I KICK IT? hits Tacoma Arts Live‘s Tacoma Armory with Bruce Lee on the big screen and DJ 2-Tone Jones remixing Enter the Dragon live, scene by scene, turning every kick into hip-hop percussion and every glare into jazz. SHAOLIN JAZZ’s fusion of martial arts, funk, and soul is cinematic alchemy — part séance, part sonic riot. You’ll leave vibrating at a higher frequency. Film + live score 7:30 p.m., Tacoma Armory Parade Floor, 1001 S. Yakima Ave., $32.75, tickets at tacomaartslive.org
Peaks & Pints Cooler Postfunk: New Holland Dragon’s Milk
After the final gong fades, sip New Holland Brewing‘s Dragon’s Milk bourbon-barrel leviathan — dark vanilla, toasted oak, a silken punch of heat and myth. A stout fit for monks, fighters, and those still vibrating from the bassline.
Tacoma Runners Free Saturday 5K | Saturday, Oct. 18
Consider it Tacoma’s moving meditation — a Tacoma Runners‘ 5K communion of sneakers, laughter, and mist. No timing chips, no medals, just the heartbeat of Point Defiance underfoot. From the “Mochi Mile” to the car-free forest loops, every stride feels like prayer set to rhythm. Show up, move forward, repeat. Run 8 a.m., Point Defiance Park, 5700 Five Mile Dr., free, all ages, tacomarunners.com
Peaks & Pints Cooler Postfunk: Single Hill Energy Cone 2025
When breath steadies and the cedar mist thins, refuel with Yakima’s fresh-hop hymn, Single Hill Brewing‘s Energy Cone Fresh Hop Hazy IPA — grapefruit blaze, mango sigh, and that fleeting “just-picked” crackle. Drink it now, drink it loud.
Tacoma Halloween Parade | Saturday, Oct. 18
By dusk, Proctor’s heartbeat turns pumpkin-orange. The Tacoma Halloween Parade returns — bigger, louder, and more deliciously deranged. Between 26th and 28th streets, ghosts dance with toddlers, drummers duel with skeletons, and the city’s spooky soul spills into the streetlight haze. It’s not just a parade; it’s Tacoma’s collective howl. Street fair 4–9 p.m., parade 7:30 p.m., North Proctor Street, free, all ages
Peaks & Pints Cooler Postfunk: Abomination Rotting Earth
When the ghouls clock out, celebrate survival with Abomination Brewing‘s Rotting Earth double dry-hopped DIPA — a riot of Mosaic, Nelson, and Galaxy, all citrus blaze and green menace. It drinks like apocalypse confetti, perfect for a night that refuses to rest in peace.
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