Rosehill Community Center sits at 304 Lincoln Ave. On Thursday evening, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m., the City of Mukilteo and its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission are using it for something the city has never hosted: a Diwali Festival of Lights.
It's the first of a long run of community nights this season, and they share a pattern. From early November into mid-December, Mukilteo's bigger community events take place in two buildings. Rosehill hosts the cultural nights and the holiday kickoff. Kamiak High School hosts the fundraisers and the Thanksgiving race. If you know which building an event is in, you'll know a lot about what kind of night it will be.
The First Diwali at Rosehill
The Mukilteo Beacon reported on Oct. 23 that this is the city's first Diwali celebration. The city's announcement invites the community to experience and learn about the South Asian festival through music, dance, food, colorful decorations, henna and crafts.
The two-hour window on a school night suits families. You can walk in after dinner, get henna done, let the kids make a craft and still be home for bedtime. The Discover Mukilteo listing shows it as free, so there's nothing to buy ahead of time, and it's an easy page to send to a neighbor.
It's Rosehill's second big night in five days, after the orchestra's season opener on Sunday, Nov. 1. The next Rosehill nights are in December, so the calendar moves across town in between.
Two Days Later, the Stage Moves to Kamiak
On Saturday, Nov. 7, at 6 p.m., the Mukilteo Schools Foundation is holding Rock Against Hunger at the District Performing Arts Center at Kamiak High School. It's a battle of the bands that raises money for Mukilteo School District students who don't have enough to eat.
My Everett News reported that more than 50 percent of the district's students qualify for free and reduced-price meals. School-day meals are covered, but hundreds of students struggle to get consistent food on weekends, holidays and school breaks. That gap is what the night is raising money for.
Every competing musician lives or works within the Mukilteo School District. The seven bands are:
- Johnstown Flood
- Miss Prince
- Peyton Redwood
- Scattered Sunn
- Special Force
- The Good Times
- The Throwbacks
Between them they play classic rock, reggae, alternative and neo-soul. The top-rated band wins $1,000. Before the competition starts, Roger Fisher, a founding member and guitarist of Heart and a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, makes a special appearance.
Ticket tiers are student, general admission, premium reserved and VIP, and the Discover Mukilteo listing shows prices from $10 to $100. Tickets are sold through the Mukilteo Schools Foundation events page.
Rosehill gets the free cultural evening, and Kamiak's performing arts center hosts the ticketed fundraiser with a bigger stage. The same split holds for the rest of the season.
The Orchestra's Season Opens With Music Long Kept Off the Stage
Rosehill's first big November night is Sunday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m., when the Mukilteo Community Orchestra opens its 2026-27 season with a free concert called "Breakthroughs." All four pieces on the program are by women composers:
- "Overture in C Major" by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
- "Symphony No. 2, Movement II: Scherzo" by Emilie Mayer
- "On the Cliffs of Cornwall" by Ethel Smyth
- "Umoja: Anthem for Unity" by Valerie Coleman
The MCO Holiday Horns give a special opening performance.
Conductor and artistic director Christopher Vongvithayamathakul explained the title to the Mukilteo Beacon:
"Long hidden from the concert stage, this compelling music is, at last, breaking through in the orchestra's performance of these pieces."
The Beacon also reported that Hensel's overture was never published during her lifetime. It sat in the Mendelssohn Archive long after her death, until the Women's Philharmonic of San Francisco reconstructed her heavily revised handwritten score and recorded it for a 1992 CD. A piece that waited that long for an audience gets one at a free Sunday matinee on Lincoln Avenue.
The orchestra's next Rosehill date is the SCMTA Concerto Competition Winners' Concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13. One calendar listing files it under Nov. 13, but the orchestra's own schedule and its concert page give the December date. The orchestra has announced five young winners of the Snohomish County Music Teachers Association competition, and admission is free.
Thanksgiving Morning Belongs to Kamiak, Too
Kamiak hosts again on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, for the Mukilteo Turkey Trot. Both the 5K and the 10K start and finish at the high school. The 10K goes off at 7:30 a.m. and the 5K at 8:15 a.m., and awards go to the top three in each age group. Snohomish Running Company organizes the race.
Some calendar listings show an older, lower price. Here are the standard prices on the RunSignup registration page:
| Race | Standard price | Signup fee |
|---|---|---|
| 5K | $50 | $4.00 |
| 10K | $60 | $4.60 |
| Student 5K | $45 | $3.70 |
| Student 10K | $50 | $4.00 |
| Children's half-mile dash | $15 | $1.90 |
The half-mile dash at $15 is the easiest way to get the whole family to the start line, even if only one adult in the house wants to run 6.2 miles before the turkey goes in.
The Weeknights In Between Happen on the Speedway
Rosehill and Kamiak host the big nights, and a handful of standing weekly events on and near Mukilteo Speedway fill the weeks between them. All of these show up on the Discover Mukilteo November calendar:
- Mondays, 6 to 8 p.m.: The Mukilteo Pub Run sets off every week from Tapped Mukilteo, 10809 Mukilteo Speedway. You can run or walk. Two Monday nights in November, the 9th and the 30th, fall right after a big weekend.
- Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.: TriviaNite at Tapped runs two games, at 6:30 and 7:30. In each round, first place wins a $25 gift card, second wins a $10 gift card and third gets a free appetizer on the next visit.
- Thursdays, 6 to 8 p.m.: Trivia Night at The Sound Pizza & Pub. On Nov. 5 it overlaps with the Diwali celebration, so you'll have to choose between them.
- Last Sunday of the month, 2:30 to 5 p.m.: Mukilteo Monthly English Country Dance falls on Nov. 29 this month. New dancers are encouraged to come to the 2:30 lesson, and the dance runs from 3 to 5. The suggested donation is $10 to $20 in cash, and the group is fragrance-free, so skip scented products.
The Mukilteo Chamber's monthly Breakfast with the Chamber is at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19, and it's free. Bloodworks Northwest has a mobile blood drive on Monday, Nov. 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and registration is required.
Back to Rosehill for the Lights on Dec. 5
The season finishes where it began. On Saturday, Dec. 5, from 3 to 6 p.m., the Mukilteo Chamber of Commerce kicks off Merry Muk 2026 at Rosehill Community Center with the annual tree lighting and gingerbread houses. It's free. For questions, the Chamber lists 425-347-1456 on the event page.
Counting from the Nov. 1 concert, that's six big community dates in about six weeks, and all of them are in one of two buildings:
| Date | Event | Building |
|---|---|---|
| Sun., Nov. 1 | Mukilteo Community Orchestra, "Breakthroughs" | Rosehill |
| Thu., Nov. 5 | Diwali Festival of Lights | Rosehill |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Rock Against Hunger | Kamiak |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Mukilteo Turkey Trot | Kamiak |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Merry Muk tree lighting | Rosehill |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | SCMTA Concerto Competition Winners' Concert | Rosehill |
The Rosehill nights, including the Diwali celebration that starts this run, are free. Of the Kamiak events, the battle of the bands sells tickets and the Thanksgiving race charges entry fees.
Our team spends a lot of these nights in the audience, and we love seeing Mukilteo fill Rosehill and Kamiak at this time of year. If you're starting to think about your own next step here, or you're just curious what your home on this calendar's side of town is worth, The WC Group can walk you through it. Get Your Free Home Valuation.
