In Seattle, it’s not just the flowers and the birds marking the arrival of spring. It’s also the groups of dressed-up, cosplayed fans walking up and down Pike and streaming in and out of the Washington State Convention Center for the Emerald City Comic Con, running this Thursday through Sunday. Find more delightful dress up at the sure-to-be unforgettable experience of Skeleton Flower this week. (And perhaps during the Capitol Hill Art Walk?) We’ve lined up more of this week’s best events on the list below. If that’s not enough, check out the CHS Calendar.

WEDNESDAY, March 13: Early on, the life of Haruko Crow Nishimura, co-founder of Seattle’s Degenerate Art Ensemble, was imbued with trauma. In Skeleton Flower, a new show melding live music, dance, ritual and breathtaking costumes, Nishimura’s personal story merges with three fairy tales in which female protagonists take matters into their own hands. From a preview we saw some time ago, CHS can confirm that in the hands of The Degenerate Art Ensemble, these stories are hauntingly beautiful and beautifully haunting. The premiere is tonight, the show runs until March 17th. Erickson Theatre, 7.30 PM

THURSDAY, March 14th: Now that the snow’s melted and temperatures are finally inching up, there’s really no excuses not to pay a visit to some of the new exhibitions opening during this month’s Capitol Hill Art Walk. Start the evening at Vermillion, where 18 Indigenous Latinx artists from the Pacific Northwest, including Eileen Jimenez, Huītzilcuāuhtli and Ixtli Whitehawk show work in Regeneración | Rebirth. Veronica Mortellaro balances wonderfully on the fine threads of tragicomedy at nearby Ghost Gallery. Walk up Broadway to the Consulado de México en Seattle for a new show by Mexican-American artist Priscilla M. Dobler titled nosotrus: Mexican-American reflections of identity, and, across the street at Joe Bar, new work by Sarah Butler. Various locations, 5 – 9 PM

THURSDAY, March 14th: Some might have missed it among a steady stream of restaurant/bar openings and closings on the hill, but “Seattle’s first sustainable keg wine on tap bar,” Footprint Wine Tap, has been open on for half a year already. Though six months is young in wine years, it basically amounts to teen-age in ‘Capitol Hill drink and food establishment years’. Celebrate the six-month mark during We’re Turning 6 Month’s Young! with all-day Happy Hour and other to-be-announced treats, to help Footprint grow nice and old on the Hill. Footprint Wine Tap, 2 – 10 PM

FRIDAY, March 15 – SUNDAY, March 17: Though Northwest Film Forum’s annual ByDesign Festival states that this year’s festival focuses “on societal growth and community-building — as viewed through the lens of design-centered thinking,” the program is way more fun and hands-on than the description makes it sound. Before and after the opening night screening of Endless Letterpress (a documentary on Argentina’s letterpress printing studios) there’s a live letterpress printing workshop. The festival unfolds over the weekend with more films, a Bauhaus-themed virtual reality experience, a pop-up market with work by local designers, and a seminar on Adobe After Effect. Northwest Film Forum

SATURDAY, March 16: Here’s some non-news that will surprise no one: Broadly speaking, the comedy scene is a white, straight male-dominated industry. Seattle comics and curators have been working to redress the balance. QTPOC Is Not A Rapper, an open mic platform for Queer, trans, and POC comics, is among the city’s best open mics. The collective celebrates its second birthday on the Hill with a special line-up including Clara Pluton, Dewa Dorje, Abraham Tadesse, Alyssa Yeoman, Val Nigro, and Monisa Brown. Jai Thai on Broadway, 8.30 PM

TUESDAY, March 19: To be honest: We’re not dying to attend the Disaster Skills: Basic Aid training session. But we/you might just be happy we/you did, if and when the Big One hits or any climate-change or Trump-related doomsday scenario becomes a reality. Hosted by Seattle Office of Emergency Management, the session provides practice on how to recognize and treat life-threatening conditions, how to conduct a patient assessment and how to creatively use household items as first aid materials, in case of major disaster or when 9-1-1 is overwhelmed or unavailable (which, turns out, is not that inconceivable).  Capitol Hill Branch – the Seattle Public Library, 5.30 – 7.30 PM