SEATTLE — There’s always something going on in a thriving city like Seattle, and these next few months are no exception.

Here’s a look at what’s new and newsworthy in the Emerald City, from attractions to hotels to sports and more, as 2022 comes to a close and we head into 2023.

ATTRACTIONS

One of Seattle’s more popular attractions, Chihuly Garden and Glass, recently debuted its new holiday display. ‘Winter Brilliance’, on now and running through the holiday season, offers guests a brand new original light and music show using innovative video projection technology. The immersive installation was created to project onto the stunning ‘Winter Brilliance’ exhibit, inspired by fire, ice, and the dramatic use of light, and originally created for Barney’s New York flagship store in Manhattan a few years back for their famous annual holiday window display.

Seattle Art Museum – credit @ppoppo2

More news for Chihuly Garden and Glass fans: Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience, has announced dates for 2023. Created by Visit Seattle, in partnership with Chihuly Garden and Glass, the fifth annual Refract: The Seattle Glass Experience, is the premiere glass festival spanning four days across dozens of locations across the greater Seattle region. The festival is set to return Oct. 12-15, 2023 and will offer glass art enthusiasts and newcomers exclusive open studio tours, special gallery exhibitions, hands-on experiences and glassblowing demonstrations not offered at any other time.

In other news, The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is closing out 2022 with the museum’s new installation of its American art galleries, the first in 15 years. ‘American Art: The Stories We Carry’ brings SAM’s historical American art collection into conversation with its Native art collection, its modern and contemporary art collection, and more.

HOTELS

Astra Hotel Seattle has opened a new stylish space-themed hotel in South Lake Union. The 265-room hotel is part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, centrally located in the South Lake Union neighborhood and steps away from the Amazon campus, Seattle Center, the Space Needle, the Museum of Pop Culture and Climate Pledge Arena. The property features a tech-forward interior design along with 5,000 square feet of meeting and event space, ground-level dining, a coffee bar, and the Altitude Sky Lounge, a glitzy new rooftop bar offering charcuterie plates, a deck area and floor-to-ceiling windows offering views the Seattle skyline.

Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighbourhood – credit Alabastro Photography

Meanwhile citizenM has opened a second location in Pioneer Square. The 232-key hotel consists of nine floors features a brick and glass façade to match the context of the historic neighborhood. And RailSpur – which encompasses three historic warehouse buildings in Pioneer Square, Seattle’s first neighborhood – will open a boutique hotel with a rooftop bar and restaurant in 2023.

CRUISING

The Port of Seattle has set a goal to be the greenest and most energy-efficient port in North America. Earlier in 2022, the Port of Seattle — alongside Alaskan and Canadian port communities, cruise industry partners, and environmental experts — launched a collaborative effort to explore the feasibility of a fully decarbonized maritime green corridor. The concept of shipping Green Corridors came out of Conference of Parties (COP) 26 meetings in Glasgow. The first-ever cruise Green Corridor is aimed at accelerating maritime decarbonization through the deployment of low and zero greenhouse gas emission solutions between Alaska, B.C. and Washington.

The Port also plans to convert Pier 66 to electric power. Once complete, all Port of Seattle cruise terminals will be plug-in ready. The shore power connection at Pier 66 is estimated to reduce annual emissions by 2,700 metrics tons of greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions when complete.

SPORTS

After its first year of successful shows, hockey games and live events, Climate Pledge Arena will continue to host critically acclaimed musical artists in 2023, including Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood, Muse, Blink-182 and Andrea Bocelli, just to name a few. The arena will also offer up plenty for sports fans to enjoy, from dozens of Kraken games to the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, the Harlem Globetrotters and AEW Wrestling. In March, Climate Pledge will host Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo, followed by NCAA’s March Madness.

Climate Pledge Arena

In other sports news, Seattle has been chosen to host Major League Baseball’s 93rd edition of the All-Star Game on July 11, 2023. T-Mobile Park last hosted the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby in 2001. This will be the third time Seattle will host the All-Stars. Not only that, but Seattle’s Lumen Field will welcome soccer teams from across the globe in 2026 when it hosts several matches in the FIFA World Cup tournament. The city is already home to a passionate contingent of soccer fans who cheer for their hometown’s Seattle Sounders. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the first to be co-hosted by three nations (Canada, the U.S. and Mexico) and will also be the first to feature an expanded field of 48 international teams playing in 60 matches across the North American continent.

RAIL

Previously suspended due to the pandemic, Amtrak has reinstated its Cascades line service between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Amtrak Cascades runs along the water from B.C., through river and mountain vistas in Washington and Oregon, offering customers views of some of the country’s most spectacular natural attractions. As of late 2022, there is one daily train in each direction between Seattle and Vancouver with additional bus routes.

MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS

The Convention Center’s newest addition, The Summit, continues to build progress towards its 2023 grand opening. The Summit will add approximately 250,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, 160,000 sq. ft. of meeting room space, including a 60,000 sq. ft. ballroom.

Washington State Convention Center – credit Alabastro Photography

For all the latest tourism news from Seattle, see visitseattle.org.