⚾ The Buffalo Soldiers Museum Hosts a Free Labor Day Festival at Cheney Stadium

Looking for a free, family-friendly way to spend Labor Day in Tacoma? The 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers Museum has you covered.

The museum hosts its Labor Day Festival on Monday, September 7, 2026, at Cheney Stadium, and it’s free and open to the public.

The heart of the day is a softball doubleheader with a fun civic-and-service twist. Army, playing as the Buffalo Soldiers, takes on Air Force, playing as the Red Tail Hawks, and in the second matchup the Longshoremen square off against the Tacoma Firefighters. It’s friendly competition with real local pride behind it.

Beyond the games, the festival fills out the grounds with music and entertainment, family games, food vendors, and local businesses, the makings of a relaxed community afternoon. Cheney Stadium, home of the Tacoma Rainiers, is an easy, familiar venue with plenty of room to spread out.

There’s also a meaningful thread running through the whole thing. The Buffalo Soldiers were the storied Black cavalry and infantry regiments of the U.S. Army, and Tacoma’s museum works to keep that history visible. A Labor Day spent here is equal parts holiday fun and a small act of remembrance.

Details:

• Date: Monday, September 7, 2026 (Labor Day); free and open to the public

• Location: Cheney Stadium, 2502 S Tyler St, Tacoma, WA 98405

• What to expect: a softball doubleheader, music and entertainment, family games, food vendors, and local businesses (check buffalosoldierstacoma.org for the day’s start time)

Real estate note: the events that make a place feel like home are often the free, come-as-you-are ones. A community holiday festival at the local ballpark, hosted by a museum that keeps important history alive, is exactly the kind of thing that gives a city its sense of identity. That community fabric is a real part of what draws people to Tacoma, and what keeps them here once they’ve put down roots.