FILM

Sept 27–Oct 3
Local Sightings Film Festival
The hardest thing for aspiring filmmakers to find is a platform for exposure, and that’s what makes the annual Local Sightings Festival so vital. It gives small-scale Northwest filmmakers an outlet to share their works with juries, industry professionals, and—most importantly—a viewing public. Some of these cinematic visions might be rough around the edges, but Local Sightings is certainly a regional flavor worth sampling. Northwest Film Forum, $150 (festival pass); $10–$12 (single ticket).

DANCE

Sept 27–Oct 6
Air Twyla
The celebrated choreographer was in Seattle this spring and summer as an artist in residence with Pacific Northwest Ballet—the first of its kind for PNB. Under Peter Boal’s watch, PNB has added six dances by Tharp to its repertory, including Brief Fling and Nine Sinatra Songs, both part of Air Twyla, the all-Tharp program that opens PNB's 2013–14 season. The performance also features the world premiere of Waiting at the Station, a collaboration between Tharp and noted New Orleans R&B composer Allen Toussaint. McCaw Hall, $28–$174.

Sept 26–29
Velocity Fall Kickoff and Big Bang! Party
Velocity relives highlights from the past season’s dance performances and previews what’s next, but Thursday’s Big Bang! Party is the best ticket, featuring dozens of artists spread out across the center, engaging in all kinds of video, dance, and music mayhem. Velocity Dance Center, $10–$500.

CONCERTS

Thru Sept 29
Decibel Festival
Decibel Festival is always a party, but there's extra reason to celebrate in 2013, as the fest marks its tenth anniversary of providing Seattle with an expansive taste of the electronic music scene. Artists like Moby, the Orb, and Lorde highlight the festivities. Various venues, $250 (festival pass); $15–$35 (individual tickets).

Sept 26
Shabazz Palaces and the Helio Sequence
As Decibel Festival enters a new decade, don't miss Sub Pop label and tour mates Shabazz Palaces and The Helio Sequence in concert. One plays jazzy, ethereal hip-hop, the other ambient electro-rock, but these like-minded musicians are brothers from another mother. Showbox at the Market, $30–$35.

Sept 27
Mavis Staples
To celebrate the Moore's facelift—though the 1,800 new seats are delayed until November—the divine Mavis Staples rechristens the 106-year-old historic theater with music from her latest album, One True Vine, produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. Moore Theatre, $38.

VISUAL ART

Thru Sept 29
Bearing Witness from Another Place: James Baldwin in Turkey
In 1961, seeking "friends, rest, and peace of mind" (wrote The New Yorker), novelist James Baldwin decamped to Istanbul, where he lived on and off for a decade. This exhibition, now in its final month, shows candid photos of Baldwin taken by his friend Sedat Pakay during the writer's self-imposed foreign exile. Northwest African American Museum, $6.

Sept 28–Jan 5
Race: Are We So Different?
Last year the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 50.4 percent of the nation's children under the age of one are minorities. As minorities become the majority, Pacific Science Center deconstructs the notion of race—historically, scientifically, and socially—by hosting this traveling exhibit developed by the American Anthropological Association. Pacific Science Center, $18.

THEATER

Sept 27–Oct 20
The Servant of Two Masters
Following the success of 2011’s pratfall- and pathos-filled Humor Abuse, Seattle Rep sends in the clowns again for this season’s opener. Physical comedy guru Christopher Bayes (Intiman’s A Doctor in Spite of Himself) directs a contemporary adaptation of 18th-century Venetian silliness, as servant Truffaldino waits on two masters with the hopes of scarfing down double dinners. Seattle Repertory Theatre, $15–$45.

CLASSICAL & MORE

Sept 26–29
Seattle Pops: Gershwin's Porgy and Bess
To kick off his first full season as Seattle Symphony’s principal pops conductor, Jeff Tyzik leads the orchestra in selections from Porgy and Bess, featuring Gershwin pros Kevin Deas and Janice Chandler Eteme singing the title roles. “It will be magical,” says Tyzik. Benaroya Hall, $19–$91.

FAMILY

Sept 26–Nov 3
Pippi Longstocking
Life will never be the same once Pippi Longstocking moves in next door. Seattle Children's Theatre stages a musical based on the adventures of the spirited young redhead. Even her hair has a mind of its own. Seattle Children's Theatre, $29–$36.