Still looking for Labor Day weekend plans? Check out these events

It's Labor Day weekend if you can believe it, and a lot is happening. As we do each week, we're getting recommendations for arts & culture events to check out in Seattle and beyond.

Chase Burns is our guide today. He's the editor of The Ticket, an online calendar and newsletter from the Seattle Times that covers events in the Puget Sound region.

PAX West, at the Seattle Convention Center

There are plenty of outside things to do around the state this weekend. There's the Washington State Fair and Pain in the Grass, which is a big outdoor festival at the White River Amphitheatre. But I wanted to bring you some picks today that were more in service of our local vampires, the people who like to kind of stay inside in Seattle, even when it's really beautiful.

PAX is a giant gaming convention. It serves gamers, also cosplayers, and streamers. There's one panel that is about the psychology behind Pokémon. I don't know exactly what that means. Then there's another panel to convince you that the 1993 movie Super Mario Bros. was actually a good movie. You may not know about this movie. It is derided, but it has a cult following.

Northwest Pinball Championships Pre-Tourney

The Seattle Pinball Super League usually puts on these championships. The actual championships happen September 9-11, but there are pre-tournaments happening this weekend, and anyone can apply. There's just a small entry fee, and it goes towards the total prize pool the winner will eventually get. Two players compete head-to-head.

Trans Pride Seattle @ Volunteer Park

I did want to throw in one outdoor event because I am not a complete vampire. I do like going outside. I know that most people associate pride with June in Seattle, but actually across the country, there are pride festivals that happen at different times. Trans Pride had to make some adjustments this year and it's happening this Friday. There will be musical performances. One of the bands is Seaside Tryst. They describe themselves as ‘emoceanal’ synthpop, hence the name Seaside Tryst.

There's also The Royal House of Noir, which is a premier Black ballroom house that puts on a lot of shows and events around the region. There's Michete, who is a very not-safe-for-work rapper and DJ but has some total club bangers that are very fun. And there's Karinyo, who has a wonderful indie singer-songwriter vibe, great lyrics, and they started out as a busker around Seattle, so you should pull them up if you've never heard of them.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.