4 Best Performing Arts in Washington Cascade Mountains and Valleys, Washington

The state's largest performing arts center north of Seattle occupies a restored vaudeville-era (1927) theater with a 110-foot-tall Moorish tower and a lobby fashioned after a Spanish galleon. It is home to the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra and also presents movies, musicals, and headline performers.

A host of local film festivals, this handsome theater inside a restored historic downtown building is a great place to see diverse indie, classic, and art-house movies. The Pickford presents an outdoor rooftop cinema series in summer as well as a children's film festival in March and other themed movie showcases. It also offers a good selection of beer, wine, and snacks in the lobby. 

Cultural activity in Tacoma centers on the outstanding—and historic—Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, which comprises three distinct venues: the gorgeous 1918 Pantages Theater, the beaux-arts Rialto, and the more contemporary Theater on the Square. One of the largest performing arts center in the Pacific Northwest, the venue hosts pop concerts, touring Broadway shows, Symphony Tacoma performances, and more.