The Arts

A way to keep up with Seattle theaters, concert halls, galleries, museums and other fine-arts events.

St. Patrick’s Day events dominate the upcoming weekend calendar, so we’ll start by recommending five events for the Irishly inclined. Then we’ve got five more for the rest of you.

If you know of fun things to do this weekend that you’d like to share with other readers, then sure and begorrah, add them to the comments thread.

ST. PATRICK’S EVENTS

Green Stripe mini-parade: All are welcome to join in laying a green stripe along Fourth Avenue to mark the route of Saturday’s St. Patrick Day parade. There’s also shamrock painting and a ceili Irish dance party at Westlake Park, 7 p.m. Friday from Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street, Seattle. Details here.

You never know who will show up at the downtown St. Pat’s parade. Photo by Alan Berner / The Seattle Times.

Irish Parade: It starts at  12:30 p.m. Saturday on Fourth Avenue, running from from Jefferson Street to Westlake Park, Seattle.

Irish Festival: On the lineup: Music, singing, dancing, genealogy and Irish language workshops, cultural exhibits, children’s activities, Irish and Celtic themed vendors – plus the Irish Reels Film Festival, noon-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday,  Seattle Center Armory, Seattle.

Kirkland Shamrock Run and the St. Patrick’s Day Dash. Wear green — or a leprechaun costume? — for these two fun runs. The Kirkland run starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at Marina Park. The dash starts at 9 a.m. Sunday at Seattle Center. A beer garden, vendors and entertainment follow the Seattle event; both are fundraisers, so register ahead.

OTHER EVENTS

Tommy Castro. The blues man helped get us through the recession with the blistering anthem, “Greedy” — “I’m greedy! I’ve got more than I need! I’m greedy! I just want more for me!” Now he and his gritty band of blues rockers, the Painkillers, play a one-night stand at 8 p.m. Friday at the Highway 99 Blues Club on Alaskan Way.

Lelavision’s “Epitone,” taken by Ela Lamblin.

Lelavision: This local performance-art troupe specializes in devising big sound-and-motion machines with names like Teetertone and Metalphor. Performers Ela Lamblin and Leah Mann fuse with these machines in novel and surprising ways. Performances are Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Vashon Island’s Open Space for the Arts.

Stargazing. The Seattle Astronomical Society hosts public star parties at Green Lake and Paramount School Park to view the night sky through telescopes. This celestial evening begins at 7 p.m.; details here.

Fossil fun. Explore how fossils ranging from the largest dinosaurs to the tiniest plant pollens help us learn about prehistoric life on earth, from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, at the Burke Museum on the University of Washington campus.

Pratt Fine Arts Center Open House. See artists in action and view their works at 6 p.m. Saturday at one of Seattle’s most active arts schools. See Pratt’s website for info.

A young metalworker at Pratt in 2012. Photo by Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times.