The Week Ahead
August 24, 2026
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The final days of August often carry a particular kind of energy on Bainbridge Island. Summer is still very much present, but there is also a sense that the season is beginning to turn. Evenings arrive a little earlier, gardens reach their fullest color, and the calendar fills with events that make the most of the remaining long days. This year, the last week of August brings three distinctly different experiences: a compelling historical drama, a free family movie under the stars, and an outdoor art market surrounded by blooming dahlias. Together, they offer a thoughtful mix of theater, film, local art, natural beauty, and community gathering. For audiences drawn to emotionally complex storytelling, The Countess brings one of Victorian England’s most famous scandals to the stage. Running August 26 through 30, with a preview on August 25, the play centers on Effie Ruskin, her husband, the influential art critic John Ruskin, and the young painter John Everett Millais. What begins as a trip to the Scottish Highlands gradually exposes the painful realities of the Ruskins’ marriage and the growing bond between Effie and Millais. Produced in partnership with Circle of Fire Theatre, the production explores love, betrayal, repression, reputation, and personal freedom within a society shaped by rigid expectations. Its questions about private truth and public image remain strikingly relevant, giving theatergoers more than a period drama to consider. A very different kind of story unfolds at Battle Point Park on August 28, when Movies in the Park presents a free screening of Elio. Seating begins at 8:00 p.m., allowing families and friends time to spread out blankets, unpack snacks, and settle in before the film begins after dark. The animated adventure follows a boy who struggles to fit in until he is transported into an intergalactic world and mistaken for Earth’s ambassador. Colorful, funny, and emotionally grounded, the PG-rated film offers an accessible evening out for viewers of many ages. Watching a space adventure beneath the open sky adds an extra layer of atmosphere, turning a familiar movie night into a shared community experience. The weekend continues with Art in the Dahlias at Bainbridge Island Farm on August 29 and 30. Set among the farm’s U-Pick Dahlia Garden, the free outdoor market brings together regional artists, floral-inspired work, live music, food, and hands-on flower picking. Visitors can browse handmade art and gifts, cut their own dahlias, and create bouquets with assistance from the farm’s staff. The setting makes the event feel less like a traditional market and more like an immersive celebration of the island’s creative and agricultural character. These three events capture different sides of Bainbridge Island at the end of summer. One invites reflection, one offers lighthearted family entertainment, and one encourages visitors to wander through flowers, music, and local art. Whether you prefer an evening in the theater, a movie on the lawn, or an afternoon in the dahlia fields, the final week of August provides several memorable ways to experience the island before the season changes.
Featured Events:
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The Countess
Some plays begin with a mystery. The Countess begins with a marriage already under strain—and a journey that will expose everything its characters have tried to conceal.
Running August 26–30, 2026, with a preview performance on August 25, the production follows Effie Ruskin, her husband John Ruskin, and the young artist John Everett Millais during a trip to the Scottish Highlands. Ruskin is a celebrated art critic whose intellect and reputation command respect. Millais is a rising painter invited into the couple’s orbit. Effie, caught between them, slowly begins to confront the painful reality of her marriage.
What starts as a seemingly cultured excursion becomes the setting for one of Victorian England’s most notorious personal scandals. As private tensions surface, Effie’s growing friendship with Millais offers her both comfort and the possibility of a life beyond repression. The emotional stakes build not through spectacle, but through the dangerous consequences of honesty in a society governed by propriety, status, and rigid expectations.
The play’s historical setting gives its central conflict added weight. In Victorian society, marriage carried powerful legal and social restrictions, particularly for women. Reputation could determine a person’s future, and challenging convention often came at enormous personal cost. Against that backdrop, Effie’s struggle becomes more than a romantic dilemma. It is a fight for dignity, self-knowledge, and personal freedom.
Art also plays a central role in the story. Ruskin’s public authority as a critic contrasts sharply with the emotional failures of his private life, while Millais represents creativity, intimacy, and a different way of seeing the world. Their relationships raise compelling questions about who has the right to define beauty, truth, and morality—and what happens when public ideals collapse under private scrutiny.
Produced in partnership with Circle of Fire Theatre, The Countess promises a layered theatrical experience shaped by history, psychological tension, and moral complexity. Audiences drawn to period drama will find familiar elements of etiquette, reputation, and forbidden intimacy, but the play’s deeper concerns feel strikingly contemporary.
At its heart, this is a story about the cost of silence. It asks what people owe to tradition, what they owe to one another, and what they owe to themselves. With its collision of art, betrayal, and emotional awakening, The Countess offers an absorbing look at a woman standing at the edge of a life she was never expected to claim.
Cost, tickets and logistics:
August 26-30,
The Buxton Center for Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave N, Bainbridge Island, 98110
Full details here
Get tickets here
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Movies in the Park
On the final Friday of August, Battle Point Park will trade its usual evening quiet for blankets, lawn chairs, glowing screens, and a journey across the universe. Movies in the Park returns on August 28 with a free outdoor screening of Disney and Pixar’s Elio, giving families and neighbors a chance to close out the summer with a movie under the night sky.
Seating begins at 8:00 p.m., but the film will start once conditions are dark enough for outdoor viewing. Arriving early is part of the experience. It gives guests time to choose a comfortable spot, unpack a picnic, and enjoy the atmosphere as daylight fades over the park. The event is presented in partnership with the Bainbridge Island branch of Kitsap Regional Library.
Released in 2025, Elio follows an imaginative, alien-obsessed boy who feels out of place on Earth. His wish for contact with life beyond the planet receives an unexpected answer when he is transported to the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization populated by representatives from distant galaxies. After being mistakenly identified as Earth’s leader, Elio must navigate unfamiliar worlds, form unexpected friendships, and determine where he truly belongs.
Although the movie is filled with colorful creatures, cosmic landscapes, and intergalactic adventure, its emotional center is grounded in a familiar experience: the desire to be understood. Elio’s journey explores loneliness, belonging, family, and the courage required to connect with others. The film is rated PG for thematic elements, action, and moments of peril.
An outdoor screening is a different experience from watching a film at home or in a theater. Children can stretch out on blankets, friends can share snacks, and the audience reacts together as the story unfolds. With Elio’s space-themed visuals projected against the darkness, Battle Point Park should provide an especially fitting setting.
Guests should bring low-backed chairs or blankets, warm layers, and anything else needed to stay comfortable after sunset. Even pleasant August days can turn cool at night. A flashlight may also be useful when packing up, although bright lights should remain off during the film.
Movies in the Park is free and open to the community, making it an easy choice for a family outing or casual summer gathering. No elaborate plans are necessary. Pack a few snacks, claim a place on the lawn, and let Elio carry the evening far beyond Bainbridge Island.
Cost, ticket, and logistics:
Fridays in August, seating begins at 8:00p
Battle Point Park, 11299 Arrow Point Dr NE, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Full details here
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Art in the Dahlias at Bainbridge Island Farm
Late August brings one of Bainbridge Island’s most colorful seasonal experiences to Manzanita Road. On August 29 and 30, Bainbridge Island Farm will welcome visitors to Art in the Dahlias, a two-day outdoor market set within the farm’s blooming U-Pick Dahlia Garden.
The event runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, giving guests plenty of time to explore the property at a relaxed pace. Admission to the market is free, and the family-friendly format makes it easy to stop by for a short visit or stay for most of the day.
The setting is the main attraction. Rows of dahlias create a vivid backdrop for the regional artists displaying floral-inspired artwork, handmade gifts, and seasonal pieces. Rather than browsing booths in a conventional market space, visitors move through an environment shaped by color, texture, and the natural rhythm of the farm. The result is part art fair, part garden outing, and part celebration of the final weeks of summer.
Guests can also take part in the farm’s U-Pick experience. Visitors may select dahlias directly from the garden and create bouquets on-site with guidance from Farm Store and U-Pick staff. The activity adds a hands-on element to the day and gives guests something personal to bring home. A bouquet assembled from flowers chosen in the field can become a keepsake from the event—or a thoughtful gift.
Art in the Dahlias is designed to be enjoyed slowly. In addition to the artist market and flower picking, the weekend includes live music and a local food truck. Visitors can browse, listen, eat, and spend time outdoors without following a strict schedule. Families may appreciate the open-air setting, while art lovers can meet regional makers and learn more about their work.
The event also offers an appealing opportunity to support local creativity in more than one form. Purchasing artwork or handmade goods supports participating artists, while picking flowers and visiting the Farm Store contributes to the agricultural life of the island. The combination reflects the character of Bainbridge Island: locally rooted, visually rich, and closely connected to the landscape.
Because the event takes place outdoors, comfortable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended. Guests planning to pick flowers may also want to allow extra time to explore the rows and assemble their bouquets.
Art in the Dahlias takes place at Bainbridge Island Farm, located at 13610 Manzanita Road NE. With blooming fields, local art, music, food, and room to wander, it offers an inviting way to spend one of the final weekends of August.
Cost, tickets and logistics:
Saturday, August 29, 10:00am and Sunday, August 30, 5pm
Bainbridge Island Farm, 13610 Manzanita Road Northeast Bainbridge Island, WA, 98110
Full details here
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