Get Your Fill of Entertainment in Puyallup and Sumner

This vibrant region in Washington state is stocked with arts and culture treasures.

By Kevin Litwin on July 25, 2023

There’s a creative air about this community, thanks to its thriving arts and culture scene. Whether you prefer to peruse galleries, enjoy music or relish a work of art at a museum – there are plenty of options for entertainment in Puyallup and Sumner.

And it’s not just local residents who appreciate what the area has to offer. Puyallup welcomes about 2.5 million visitors a year, with about half that number here for the annual 21-day Washington State Fair, while the other half attends various events and visits local attractions.

One of those attractions is Big Whisky Saloon, where friends, music and drinks combine on weekends to make for what is billed as “Always the Best Country Party.”

Also in Puyallup is the landmark Liberty Theatre, a vintage movie palace that was recently restored and will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2024.

Another part of the arts and culture landscape is Pioneer Park Pavilion, which opened downtown in 2004 and is perhaps best known for hosting Puyallup Farmers Market every Saturday morning from mid-April through mid-October. The Pavilion is an enclosed building with large garage doors on its park side as well as the street side, and the doors are raised for the market to become an open-air building with a roof on top.

“We also host a summertime Puyallup Night Market on Thursday evenings with a free concert series and food trucks, and that provides a great vibe for the downtown area,” says Ellen Palmer, Pioneer Park Pavilion supervisor.

“The Pavilion also hosts banquets, weddings and a six-concert Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra series on Sunday afternoons from the fall through May.”

The Eyes Have It

For devotees of visual arts, the region has attractions like the Arts Downtown exhibit, which includes more than 50 works installed outdoors at various spots throughout the district.

As for museums, popular attractions include Meeker Mansion and Karshner Memorial Museum, a natural history museum and cultural center that is one of the few museums in the nation owned by a local school district.

“I have been involved with tourism regionally for many years, so I know how important Meeker Mansion is to the downtown area,” says Holly O’Brien, Meeker Mansion curator. “When we were closed for COVID-19, we decided to repaint, renovate, redesign and transform the mansion into a beautiful museum that has interesting rooms on all floors.”

O’Brien says the four-story, 1890s mansion presents about 12,000 tours a year, and every so often visitors are even allowed to tour the basement that has remained basically untouched over its 132-year history. There are also plans for the property to eventually add a Cultural Heritage Center that will include a restaurant, taproom and more.

“Meeker Mansion is a great place to visit for 90 minutes,” O’Brien says. “Puyallup does a great job in engaging the community in the arts, and this mansion is one of the city’s cultural gems.”