Best bets for summer weekends

Lots of people love the hundreds of choices in our Summer Guide calendars. If your kid — or your significant other, or your visiting cousin from Pocatello — comes to you on a sweaty July afternoon and whines, "There's nothing to dooooo," grab the print version of our Summer Guide, roll it into a tight little newsprint baton and bean them with it.

Then tell them to sit down, open any page, close their eyes and point.

But choices can be daunting.

So we also offer this — the barrel-aged, refined and concentrated, high-proof, Best Bets version of Summer Guide. Here's a weekend-by-weekend list of greatest hits, from today until the autumn equinox:

May 16-17 weekend

Whether you inhaled or not in the 1960s, or even if you weren't yet a twinkle in your granny-dress-wearing mother's eye, you'll find something entertaining and/or educational about a trip to Seattle's neighborhood with the highest population of people under 25: the U District. And this weekend is the University District StreetFair, the kickoff to Seattle's street-fair season, when hippies new and old come out of the henna-spattered woodwork and show off their pottery, their juggling, their pan-fluting and their dreadlocks. www.udistrictchamber.org/StreetFair.

And don't forget: the Clean Water Classic surfing contest in Westport; the National Offshore One-Design sailing regatta at Shilshole Bay Marina; and perhaps the Anacortes Waterfront Festival.

May 23-24 weekend

If this is Seattle and it's Memorial Day weekend, Northwest Folklife Festival fills Seattle Center. The ambience ramps up a bit from the U District, and the crowd is maybe a little more vegan and fair-trade. Arts and culture of many kinds, all for free. www.nwfolklife.org.

And don't forget: Seattle International Film Festival (just getting underway), and the Ski to Sea relay and festivities, adding boom to Bellingham.

May 30-31 weekend

Edmonds hosts its Waterfront Festival, on a pretty shorefront with ringside view of the Olympics, and it's also time for the Pike Place Market Street Festival, at a place worth celebrating daily.

And don't forget: The North Cascades Institute's Annual Picnic, a free hootenanny in the high country.

June 6-7 weekend

For the go-fast crowd, Issaquah's Tastin' n Racin' festival brings hydroplanes, hot cars, Jet Skis and lots of stuff to eat to Lake Sammamish State Park. Fewer vegans, more Miller Genuine Draft. www.tastinracin.com.

And don't forget: Maritime Gig Festival in Gig Harbor; or Pagdiriwang, celebrating Filipino culture, at Seattle Center.

June 13-14 weekend

This might be the weekend to plan a camping trip. Or if you're dying to wear plaid flannel, head for the Deming Logging Show in Whatcom County, and watch don't-try-this-at-home tricks with chain saws. www.demingloggingshow.com.

And don't forget: Farm Animal Day at the South 47 Farm in Redmond.

June 20-21 weekend

A classic Seattle summer happening, on the weekend when summer arrives: Fremont Fair and the accompanying Solstice Parade, known for its giant puppets, people on stilts, bohemian crowd and weather that always seems to convince people it's warm enough to take off their clothes and ride bicycles. www.fremontfair.org.

And don't forget: Washington Brewers Festival at Saint Edward State Park; the Bell Street Pier Classic Rendezvous of beautiful boats; and Greenway Days, with a wide assortment of events along a wide stretch of Interstate 90.

June 27-28 weekend

Spend Saturday at the Greenwood Car Show, one of the region's biggest and best showoff and shine-up lineups of classic and custom cars and the people who love them. Sunday, line up along Fourth Avenue for one of the season's don't-miss marathons of marching and mugging (for the camera), the Seattle Pride Parade, always featuring a rainbow of colorful floats and personalities. www.greenwoodcarshow.com and www.seattlepride.org.

And don't forget: Taste of Tacoma, at Point Defiance Park; Shoreline Arts Festival; and Bellevue Strawberry Festival, in the Crossroads neighborhood.

July 4-5 weekend

Seattle's Fourth of Jul-Ivar's fireworks party is no more, but Chase has taken over backing this year of the WaMu Family Fourth on Lake Union. And if you can't find a party in your own neighborhood, just take a look at our full page of July 4 events, Page 13.

And don't forget: Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival, with lots to keep you busy until the fireworks pop.

July 11-12 weekend

Seafair roars (with an "Arrggh, matey") into town with the Seafair Pirates Landing and the Green Lake Milk Carton Derby, as July becomes festivally frantic. www.seafair.com.

And don't forget: The Arlington Fly-In, with experimental aircraft; Redmond Derby Days, with a big bike race; Chinatown-International District Summer Festival, always a crowd-pleaser; the big, bustling Kent Cornucopia Days (its cup runneth over); and the Pioneer Square Fire Festival's Firefighter Combat Challenge, a hot ticket.

July 18-19 weekend

The Bite of Seattle at Seattle Center will feed you well in small quantities. And if you need to freshen up between courses, just step into the spray of the International Fountain. www.biteofseattle.com.

And don't forget: Frog-jumping fun at Kla Ha Ya Days in Snohomish; the reincarnated King County Fair in Enumclaw; the colorful culture of Seafair Indian Days Pow Wow; the colorful landscapes of the Sequim Lavender Festival; the heel-kicking music of Darrington Bluegrass Festival; the granolahead good times of TrailsFest in North Bend; and, finally, the exciting dragon dance of the Chinatown Seafair Parade. (Whew. Remember to carbo load when you're at The Bite.)

July 25-26 weekend

July doesn't let up. Friday is the Seafair Torchlight Parade (and Torchlight Run). And all weekend is Bellevue's orgy of art celebrations, centered on the Bellevue Arts Museum ArtsFair, one of the Pacific Northwest's oldest and most prestigious summer art events. www.seafair.com and www.bellevuearts.org/fair.

And don't forget: Ballard's SeafoodFest, with street fair, music and barbecued salmon.

Aug. 1-2 weekend

It's hydro weekend. If you've been around Seattle more than a year, you know what that means. Join throngs along Lake Washington for the Seafair hydroplane races (and the running of the Chevrolet Cup), and look overhead for the Seafair Air Show, featuring the aerial awe of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels.

And don't forget: Seattle's Umoja Fest, touting itself as the Northwest's oldest and largest Black community festival.

Aug. 8-9 weekend

Summer settles in. After the social whirl of Seafair, you might need to get out of town and simplify your life. Go watch lawnmower races, a hit attraction at the annual Morton Logger's Jubilee in Lewis County. www.loggersjubilee.com.

And don't forget: Auburn's Good ol' Days Festival, and North Bend's Festival at Mount Si.

Aug. 15-16 weekend

Match hot days with hot music. Seattle Center hosts BrasilFest (Aug. 16 only), with continuous music, dance, workshops and martial arts demonstrations. www.brasilfest.com.

And don't forget: Aug. 16 is Bicycle Sunday, part of a summer-long schedule of cycling days.

Aug. 22-23 weekend

Stretch your legs on the Ride Around Puget Sound, a scenic bicycle ride through five Western Washington counties. www.rapsodybikeride.com.

And don't forget: Seattle Center's Tibet Fest, plus Finland Summer Festival on Crown Hill.

Aug. 29-30 weekend

If you haven't been to a country fair yet, make up for the deficit of elephant ears in your diet. Evergreen State Fair, one of the region's big boys, kicks off in Monroe. www.evergreenfair.org.

And don't forget: Makah Days in Neah Bay, and Kitsap County Fair & Stampede in Bremerton.

Sept. 5-6 weekend

Labor Day weekend brings Bumbershoot to Seattle Center. (Sort of like Folklife, but with more tattoos.) Lots and lots of music. www.bumbershoot.org.

And don't forget: Olympia Harbor Days and Bremerton Blackberry Days.

Sept. 12-13 weekend

Summer's on the run, as the Puyallup Fair opens. It's the granddaddy of Northwest fairs (witness its URL, www.thefair.com) and the place go if you need serious scones or just haven't seen enough prizewinning chickens in your life.

And don't forget: Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival and Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival.

Sept. 19-20 weekend

Summer ends, and what better signoff than a September festival that's named for October, Fremont Oktoberfest, with its touching bits of Americana: beer, music and chain-saw pumpkin carving. www.fremontoktoberfest.com.