Cheap Things to Do in Seattle

Free Art

The Olympic Sculpture Park has installations from sculptors like Alexander Calder set against the backdrop of the sparkling waters of the Sound.

Pioneer Square has the largest concentration of art galleries in the city, all of which are free. Elsewhere in the city, Belltown and Capitol Hill also have free galleries.

The Frye Art Museum is always free.

Free Music

Unless it's a major ticketed venue, cover charges at small music venues are always cheap ($5-$7), and often free.

Throughout the year, City Hall hosts free lunchtime concerts, mostly jazz and world music (www.seattle.gov/arts/community/seattle_presents.asp).

Local indie music station KEXP and Seattle Center host the Concerts at the Mural series at the Mural Amphitheatre lawn in late July and August (www.kexp.org/events).

All shows at the four-day (Memorial Day weekend) Northwest Folklife Festival (www.nwfolklife.org) are free.

Free Words

Only residents can check out materials, but the gorgeous main branch of the Rem Koolhaas- and Joshua Ramus-designed Seattle Public Library is open to everyone—check e-mail, listen to a CD from the music library, or catch up on reading in one of the many lounges and study areas.

Seattle's favorite independent bookstore, Elliott Bay Book Company (www.elliottbaybook.com), often has free readings by well-known authors. Third Place Books (www.ravenna.thirdplacebooks.com) and Open Books (www.openpoetrybooks.com) are also beloved local bookstores that have author nights.

Town Hall, the city's premier venue for lectures, sometimes has free series—tickets to most lectures, even for heavy hitters, are only $5 (www.townhallseattle.org).

Free Buses

Seattle Metro Transit's Ride-Free Area covers most of Downtown. From 6th Avenue to the waterfront, and Battery Street in Belltown down to S. Jackson Street in Pioneer Square, you can hop on and off city buses for free from 6 am to 7 pm daily.

Free Museum Days

ALWAYS FREE

Frye Art Museum

Klondike Gold Rush Museum

FIRST THURSDAY

Asian Art Museum

Burke Museum

Experience Music Project (5 pm-8 pm)

Henry Art Gallery

Museum of Flight (5 pm-9 pm)

Museum of History and Industry

Science Fiction Hall of Fame (5 pm-8 pm)

Seattle Art Museum

Wing Luke Asian Museum

SATURDAY

Asian Art Museum (1st Sat. of month; families only)

Wing Luke Asian Museum (3rd Sat. of month)