The first three-day break of the summer comes early this year, rudely popping up already even though May just started (right?). Recent so-so weather may have kept people from planning big getaways, and peak vacation season still feels far away. All that could keep the chaos to a minimum this year, but Northwest Folklife will make Seattle Center busy.

Rating: 2 out of 5 headaches

Unless you live in Fremont, home of the famously naked Solstice Parade, is this really a notable date on the calendar? Maybe not, though Juneteenth's position on June 19—a PTO day for some companies and the first day of summer break in Seattle Public Schools—could make it a popular vacation departure day. Keep an eye out for the FIFA Club World Cup game in Lumen Field on June 21.

Rating: 1 out of 5 headaches

A 4th of July that falls on a Friday! Now that's patriotic. (We'll take what we can get this year.) Expect major get-out-of-town crowds all week, but especially on Thursday, July 3. With the signature firework night falling on a weekend, it could concentrate the booms and bangs instead of stretching them across many ear-splitting evenings. Anything around Lake Union will be painful on Friday, though.

Rating: 4 out of 5 headaches

Hooboy, can you picture what happens when I-5 North is totally and utterly closed for two days? We're all about to find out. The Washington State Department of Transportation's Revive I-5 construction event was recently moved up a weekend (the WSDOT blog cited, in part, "Ichiro Suzuki's Hall of Fame celebration at T-Mobile Park"). It will now take place the same weekend as Capitol Hill Block Party.

The bad part: Northbound I-5 will be closed between I-90 to the 45th Street exit from Friday night until Monday morning (express lanes will be open, though). Also bad: Two lanes from that section over the Ship Canal Bridge will remain out of commission until the second closure weekend in August. Highway 99, I-90, and surface streets should all see overflow effects.

Rating: 5 out of 5 headaches

Seattle's annual celebration means a lot of events: parades, live music, and the signature hydrofoil races on Lake Washington. Travel along Lake Washington Boulevard will definitely be disturbed, and though the I-90 bridge over the lake hasn't been closed for Seafair events in recent years, the Blue Angels–led flight show can shake windows and disturb pets throughout the city. (Remember that practice flights usually begin before the weekend proper.) Extra headaches for the noise.

Rating: 4 out of 5 headaches

Second verse, same as the first? Like Mission: Impossible, this experience is somehow a two-parter. The shutdowns are the same as the first WSDOT closure weekend, but familiarity could breed avoidance. Honestly, by this point of the summer we'll probably all be passed out from exhaustion and uninterested in going anywhere.

Rating: 3 out of 5 headaches

What is it with early holiday weekends this year? Since Labor Day, a.k.a. the first Monday in September, falls on September 1, summer's big finale kicks off before August even wraps up. Bumbershoot will be back at Seattle Center with Weezer and Bright Eyes headlining, so the indie cohort will be out in full force. It's a big weekend for back-to-school shopping and cramming in the last escapes of the season; roads will likely be full, but hopefully not in gridlock.

Rating: 2 out of 5 headaches