U District Cherry Blossom Festival, Georgetown Bites & Sites, and More Cheap & Easy Events Under $15 by EverOut Staff The first official weekend of spring is gonna be a wet one, but don't let that keep you from the start of the U District Cherry Blossom Festival, Georgetown Bites & Sites, or Seattle's French Fest, or the SISCA International Nowruz Celebration. For more ideas, check out our top event picks of the week. FRIDAY READINGS & TALKS Lit Lounge: The People's Art | A Prose and Poetry SalonColumbia City hangout The Station understands that the best way to decompress from a long week is with an event that feels like a bit of a '90s throwback: A prose and poetry reading at a coffee shop. Writer and TEDx orator Jodi-Ann Burey's Lit Lounge pops up each month with readings of published works and pieces in progress. This month, readers include Luther Hughes, author of A Shiver in the Leaves and co-host of The Poet Salon podcast, and E.J. Koh, who was named one of the city's most influential people by Seattle Magazine. I'm excited to hear from formidable poet Anastacia-Reneé, whose funky, feminist collection Side Notes from the Archivist: Poems illuminated Black femme culture through coming-of-age poems set in '80s Philly. LINDSAY COSTELLO (The Station Columbia City, Columbia City, $10) ...read more read less