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August 12, 2025
🎶 CHOMP! is back: Live music, local food, and family fun at Marymoor Park
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Get ready to dance, snack, and celebrate! CHOMP! returns to Marymoor Park on Saturday, August 16 for a full day of free fun featuring live music, fresh local food, and sustainable living in action.
🎤 Kim Deal, legendary musician and founding member of The Breeders and Pixies, headlines an all-day lineup of live music. 🍑 Enjoy bites from local food vendors, hands-on art activities, a petting zoo, dancing veggies, and more. 🌻 Explore booths highlighting King County’s work in local food, environmental stewardship, and community resilience.
Whether you're there for the music, the food, or the flower crowns, there’s something for everyone at CHOMP!
Getting to CHOMP!
Link Light Rail
King County Parks has opened two new trails in Redmond that connect Sound Transit’s Marymoor Village Station to two regional trails and King County’s most visited park, making it safer and more convenient to enjoy healthy outdoor recreation, activities, and events.
Bike
You can also bike to Marymoor via the Burke-Gilman or Sammamish River trails. Bike racks will be available by the main entrance of CHOMP! as well as by the Clise Mansion parking lot.
Summer camp memories, protected for generations
“I’m really happy that I’m going to be able to come back and this place is going to stay here and be as magical and involved with nature as it should be...forever.”
—Camp counselor at Camp Sealth on Vashon
We are working with partners to protect historic nature camps and create new opportunities for kids in underserved communities to experience outdoor adventures.
Executive Braddock recently toured the century-old Camp Sealth on Vashon Island, where we helped permanently protect 260 acres of forested campground that have welcomed generations of campers.
We also helped revitalize Camp Kilworth in Federal Way and supported improvements at Waskowitz Outdoor Education Center near North Bend — each part of a broader strategy to ensure more youth have equitable access to nature, recreation, and lifelong memories.
Making a splash: How King County Parks Levy Grants support local pools
Of the $88 million in community grant funding generated by the King County Parks Levy since 2020, $34 million has been invested in city- and school-operated aquatic centers throughout the region.
One example of how we’re making pools and swimming lessons more accessible is at the Evergreen Aquatic Center, one of the few public pools in the White Center area. The nonprofit has used the Parks Levy funding to make the historic pool more energy efficient and made it possible for more people of all abilities to enjoy.
Read how Parks Levy grants are making a splash →
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Something in the water: Tracking down poop pollution in King County
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When unsafe levels of bacteria from failing septic systems, stormwater runoff, or animal waste enter local waterways, it can shut down shellfish beds, threaten public health, and harm ecosystems.
A new Headwaters blog post from our Science Section follows the journey of King County’s Pollution Identification and Correction program as it traced — and fixed — a major source of contamination in Massey Creek, which feeds into Poverty Bay on Puget Sound. With help from a homeowner, community partners, and a septic system rebate, the pollution was stopped at the source — demonstrating that clean water takes collaboration.
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Rope rescue drill at South Treatment Plant prepares firefighters for emergencies
If you saw firefighters in helmets and harnesses at our South Treatment Plant recently, there was no need to panic — it was all part of a week-long confined space rescue training.
About 30 firefighters from the South King County Fire Training Consortium practiced high-stakes scenarios inside the Raw Sewage Pump Building, simulating rescues in unsafe air and tight quarters. Training at facilities like ours helps first responders build teamwork, decision-making, and confidence for some of the toughest calls they face, while also strengthening coordination with our Wastewater Treatment Division safety team.
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Social media spotlight
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Headed for a swim at the lake? 🏖️ Our weekly water testing at King County lakes makes it easy to find a healthy place to swim! Check the Swim Beach Monitoring website before you go!
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Can you tell our Gen Z intern wrote this? Cedar Hills Regional Landfill definitely slays ... and maybe even eats. Want to learn more about how your waste is processed in King County?
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Through late fall, salmon will return to King County streams to spawn. Viewing salmon return is a wonderful opportunity for families and kids of all ages to learn about Pacific salmon and witness their incredible journey.
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If you encounter paywalls or articles requiring a subscription, Seattle Public Library and the King County Library System offer ways to read magazines and newspapers with a library account.
To subscribe to the The Evergreen, or to manage settings, please click here.
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