Summer Event Picks

Bon Odori/Seafair
July 16–17

Of all the Seattle cultural festivals that have aligned themselves with Seafair, Bon Odori, at the Seattle Buddhist Temple, is one of our favorites. It's low-key, easy to circumnavigate, and solidly grounded in a long-standing Seattle community. Dance, crafts, music, and food booths abound, and if you just gotta see those Seafair pirates, well, they've been known to show up at Bon Odori, too. Sat., July 16–Sun., July 17. Free. 1427 S. Main St., 206-329-0800, www.seattlebetsuin.com. For more Seafair events: 206-728-0123, www.seafair.com. LYNN JACOBSON

August

Pasefika
Aug. 6

White Center boasts a large Polynesian population, and if (when?) the big quake hits and our land mass breaks up into small islands, we might have a lot to learn from the more than 20,000 native Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, and other Pacific Islanders living there. One of the largest communities of its kind in the Northwest, the White Center Pacific Islanders will hold their second annual Pasefika Celebration this August. You can bank on the streets being lined with food booths and several stages showcasing traditional dance troupes. All day Sat., Aug. 6. Southwest 98th Street between 14th and 15th avenues southwest, 206-694-1082, www.wccda.org. LAURA CASSIDY

The Ring
Aug. 7–28

What better way to while away those hazy, lazy late summer days than to spend them indoors, watching the incestuous travails of Norse demigods awash in Richard Wagner's hyperchromatic music? Four days! Twenty-one hours! Sold out! But friendly scalpers are standing by! (Prices start at $1,200 for the series.) Aug. 7–28. McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., 206-389-7676, www.seattleopera.org. ROGER DOWNEY