25 years of all-ages music, art, and community
January 27, 2026 is The Vera Project’s 25th Anniversary of always all-ages music, art, and community in Seattle. We’re celebrating a quarter century of true & sincere friends by announcing a new radically accessible slate of music and arts programming, a collaborative DIY festival, a new innovative venue space in Georgetown, and more – along with a $2.5M fundraising campaign to help make it all possible.
VERA is investing all of our growing organizational resources into the future of our local, independent music scene and underground culture, building community outside of profit. We’re offering a more meaningful way to support live music, artists, culture bearers, social movements, and youth than the increasingly brutal realities of Seattle’s status quo.
We can have the city we want if we work together to build it. Together. DIY or die.
3 initiatives to build the next 25 years of VERA
All-Ages / All Access
Starting now, The Vera Project will be hosting a brand new slate of free, all-ages shows every single week for the foreseeable future at our home on Seattle Center’s campus. Centered on supporting Seattle’s local music ecosystem and DIY scene, we’ll be collaboratively programming at least 180 community-curated events throughout the next three years and beyond.
Shout out to Allen Family Philanthropies for helping make so much of this programming possible.
VERA in Georgetown!
In early 2027, The Vera Project will open a brand new always all-ages music, arts, and community space in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. The approximately 250-300 capacity adaptive venue will launch with a full slate of community-curated programming focused on celebrating local subculture, uplifting up-and-coming artists in mixed genres and mediums, empowering youth-driven mutual aid, and providing a local resource for our new neighbors in the Duwamish Valley and South King County.
Thanks to our friends at Georgetown Calling – a new artist-forward complex of practice and studio spaces – VERA has obtained an affordable 20-year lease and collaborative build-out process, securing the future of all-ages music, art and community in Seattle for decades to come.
The Kickback
DIY shows, peer-to-peer workshops, informational zines, and more subversive programming in celebration of our local music community. Named in honor of our friend Tim Leiweke – congrats on the pardon, bud!
Want to know exactly what percentage of your ticket money goes directly to artists vs. venue fees and ticketing platforms? Hoping to find out how much $$$ VERA makes (loses) per year on all-ages shows? Have ideas on how to fix a broken industry? Let’s talk about it.
100% of all program funds are kicked back directly to artists. This new, intentional focus on collaborative public education demystifying the music industry and promoting DIY culture joins our expanded slate of creative training programs for Seattle youth.
Give to the future of all-ages art & culture.
$2.5M for 25 Fundraising Campaign
In tandem with these big announcements, The Vera Project is publicly launching a $2.5 million cash and capital comprehensive campaign that will run through the opening of our Georgetown venue in early 2027. This effort is powered by 25 years of raucous community, countless shows, and the belief that all-ages culture doesn’t ask for permission. While we’re doing our best to build creative community outside of capital, we do still need public and private support from an incredible, engaged community of participatory contributors to keep the lights on and music loud.
Here is the wild news –
as of today, we are already 53.4% funded towards our goal.
We are so incredibly proud of this moment, and you – yes, you – can make the remaining 46.6% happen. This campaign is truly not about the dollars raised, but rather the people who back it. We have broader goals of adding 400 new individuals to our powerful donor community and building up our monthly recurring Backliners Club to more than 100 strong.
These relationships and camaraderie extend far and wide. Throughout this campaign, artists with meaningful connections to The Vera Project will be joining us to support 25 more years of all-ages music, art, and community. Keep an eye out all year long as dozens of our true & sincere friends share their stories, starting with Band of Horses, who have pledged a dollar ($1.00) of every ticket sold on their 2026 tour and put together a Propeller raffle package to benefit VERA in tandem with their hometown shows in March.
In classic VERA fashion, we’ll be throwing parties all across this anniversary period to celebrate our community and hammer these wins home. Catch us this year at any of the following events:
- July – VERA Garden Party, a boutique elevated rock affair.
- October – VIVA VERA 2026, the return of our large-format gala celebrating 25 years of true & sincere friendship.
- November – Always All Ages, our international cultural exchange and free DIY fest.
- December – Last Call for the Kids, one final cheers to ring in the beginning of VERA’s next 25 years
And if you want to throw your own party to help make this campaign a success, let us know and we’ll be there!
Here is what makes the VERA $2.5M for 25 Comprehensive Campaign different from most major nonprofit fundraising initiatives: every dollar goes to work immediately. Our community needs support to weather the storms we’re facing right now, not another rainy day fund. When you give to VERA, you are actively powering all-ages shows; actively facilitating artist development and culture bearing; actively providing opportunities for youth leadership; and actively creating and reinforcing a home for our shared creative communities right now. This is DIY-rooted infrastructure, built publicly, together.