There’s still time for summer fun

Kids don’t need to think about going back to school quite yet. There are still a few weeks left of fun fairs, festivals and other summertime events in Snohomish County and beyond.

Plan an afternoon to partake in one of the local events that are still going strong. Try Jetty Island Days, the Island County Fair or one of the animal farm and petting zoos.

Jetty Island Days features environmental discoveries, group tours and campfire programs. Participate in nature walks and children’s crafts or visit the interpretive hut and view a puppet show. Events continue Wednesdays through Sundays through Sept. 5. A free ferry shuttle to and from the island departs approximately every half-hour from the 10th Street boat launch.

Animal-oriented activities include the Forest Park Animal Farm, continuing through Sunday at Forest Park in Everett, and the Rotary Ranch Petting Zoo at Jennings Park in Marysville. The Forest Park Animal Farm hosts a variety of programs and activities. Rotary Ranch Petting Zoo is open Tuesdays through Sundays through Sept. 5.

The Island County Fair, running through Sunday, is an old-fashioned fair with live entertainment, children’s activities and midway games. View animal exhibits, eat tasty fair tidbits and explore arts and crafts at the fairgrounds in Langley.

The Arlington Art Fair and Avenue of Quilts feature professional demonstrations of glassblowing and pottery wheel ceramics. Through Sunday, view exhibits of teacher and student art, musical performances and art activities for children, such as origami and button making.

The Tipi Trek Theater at Skyland Ranch in Gold Bar presents “Box of Daylight” at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays through September. The production presents visitors with traditional American Indian dances, stories and songs from the Pacific Northwest Coast, Southwest and Plains Indians.

The popular Evergreen State Fair in Monroe starts Thursday and continues through Sept. 6. (For complete food, entertainment and event coverage, see next Friday’s A&E.)

For a day trip or a visit to the city, activities are abundant.

The Canterbury Faire at the Senior Activity Center and Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks Park in Kent is a medieval fair with period costumes, tournaments, children’s activities and arts and crafts of the era. On Saturday and Sunday, there will be live entertainment, dancing and lots of food.

SPARC, a festival to celebrate the arts, is Saturday and Sunday at Sand Point Magnuson Park in Seattle. Take the kids out for a day of food, entertainment, recreation and community. A public dance, with music by Klez &Cayenne, will be Saturday night with lessons preceding the activity.

Seattle Center’s BrasilFest is Sunday, followed by TibetFest on Monday and Tuesday. The cultural celebrations feature arts and crafts, live music and dancing and children’s activities.

Venture further for a weekend getaway at the International Kite Festival in Long Beach. Through Sunday, the peninsula is taken over by kite-flying activities for children and adults.

Other weekend events that require a short expedition include the 16th annual National Lentil Festival today and Saturday in Pullman, and the seventh annual juried Westport Art Festival on Saturday and Sunday at various locations in Westport and Grays Harbor.

Turn the last days of summer into something fun for the family with some of these great Washington traditions.

Barton Glasser / The Herald

Andrew Ivelia, 8, tries to fly his father’s sport kite on a visit to Jetty Island earlier this summer.

Dan Bates / The Herald

Two-year-old Matthew Lauer of Marysville pets a pigmy goat in May at the Rotary Ranch Petting Zoo.