Music in the Arboretum features free performances at the Visitors Center every August.
BY MOLLY DALESSANDRO
Did you know that Seattle Botanic Gardens offers free cultural and science programs at the Arboretum and Seattle Japanese Garden? In 2025, more than 14,000 visitors learned about plant science, participated in cultural experiences, and enjoyed free live music in our treasured green spaces.
Our free events are supported by 4Culture’s Public Free Access program, which seeks to reduce barriers to cultural and science experiences for King County residents and visitors. We’re proud to announce that 4Culture awarded us a $50,000 Public Free Access grant this spring to continue these programs in 2026 and beyond.
Here’s a sampler of the free events and programs coming up this year, including our newest series, Yoga in the Arboretum. We hope you can join us!
- Arboretum Spring Plant Sale: Sunday, April 26, 10am to 2pm. This annual event at the Graham Visitors Center is no ordinary plant sale. Shop a unique selection of perennials, shrubs, and trees—plus enjoy live music, free horticultural demonstrations, nature education activities, and community tabling. Learn how to make your own mushroom kit, sharpen your gardening tools, and more!
- Koi Day at the Japanese Garden: Saturday, May 16, 11am to 2pm. The Seattle Japanese Garden offers admission-free events all season long through its Free First Thursday and Family Saturday programs. The popular annual Koi Day event is part of the Family Saturday program. Admission to the Garden is free for youth 12 and under, from 10am to 2pm. Enjoy feeding the koi fish in the pond as they wake from hibernation (free koi food provided), as well as a koi presentation by the Washington Koi and Water Garden Society, and a thunderous taiko drum performance by Kokon Taiko.
- Lynda Mapes Book Event: Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 to 8:30 pm. We are thrilled to welcome Seattle journalist and author Lynda V. Mapes to the Arboretum for a discussion and slide show about her new book The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests. Learn about the importance of our old-growth and other natural forests and the existential threats they face.
- Reading Kimono: Thursday, June 4, 5 to 6pm. Don’t miss this free lecture at the Japanese Garden on the fascinating history of the kimono in Edo Japan (1603–1868). Seattle University’s assistant teaching professor Nobuko Horikawa will discuss how the kimono represented important social identities and cultural values during this important period of Japanese history. This is a Free First Thursday program, and admission to the Garden will be free from noon to closing.
- Yoga in the Arboretum: Mondays in July, 6 to 7pm. Sign up for our new summer yoga series, every Monday evening in July on the Pacific Connections Meadow. Enjoy a different local instructor each week in this free class open to all levels of yoga experience. RSVP required.
- Music in the Arboretum: August 5 and 19, 6 to 8 pm. Enjoy free live music at the Graham Visitors Center on two Wednesdays in August. Our fourth annual Music in the Arboretum concert series will showcase Seattle-based Brazilian musician Jovino Santos Neto on August 5 and Americana songwriter Stephanie Anne Johnson on August 19. Bring a picnic and make an evening of it!
For more information about the Japanese Garden’s monthly Free First Thursday and Family Saturday programs, check out the event calendar on Garden’s website.
Molly Dalessandro is the Grants Manager at the Arboretum Foundation.
About 4Culture
4Culture is King County’s cultural funding agency and distributes $100 million annually in Doors Open funding to arts, heritage, science, and historic preservation nonprofit organizations in the County. The grant of $50,000 we received this spring is the Arboretum Foundation’s second Public Free Access award—and its fourth grant in total funded by Doors Open legislation!
