The WhatcomTalk Events Calendar shares things to do around Whatcom County including Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine and beyond. Find fun activities and adventures throughout the region on our comprehensive events calendar. Have an event that isn’t listed? Click the green “Post your Event” button and our editors will review and approve within two business days.
As sure as birth, death also happens. Choosing to keep our loved ones at home at end-of-life can be a sacred experience. Is it legal? Is it safe? What documents do we need? How do we care for the body as we choose to say goodbye? How do we create sacred space in honor of our loved ones? Join the discussion with Nora Cedarwind-Young, Certified Death Midwife, Green Burial Educator and former Hospice Chaplain. Nora teaches nation-wide and is a founding member of the National Home Funeral Association. She has been featured on NPR, in magazine articles and in books.
The 3rd annual Bellingham SeaFeast is set for Sept. 21-22 downtown and at Squalicum Harbor. Last fall’s SeaFeast attracted more than 10,000 people who enjoyed 40,000 servings of seafood, including salmon, grilled oysters, fish tacos and more. Bellingham SeaFeast 2018 will jump-start on Sept. 21 with FisherPoets on Bellingham Bay performing downtown, presenting poetry, songs and stories. On Sept. 22, the festival will unfold all day on sites donated by the Port of Bellingham – in Zuanich Point Park and on specified docks. Highlights include competitions, dock tours, children’s games, demonstrations, live entertainment and the centerpiece of the entire event: Seafood!
The 3rd annual Bellingham SeaFeast is set for Sept. 21-22 downtown and at Squalicum Harbor. Last fall’s SeaFeast attracted more than 10,000 people who enjoyed 40,000 servings of seafood, including salmon, grilled oysters, fish tacos and more. Bellingham SeaFeast 2018 will jump-start on Sept. 21 with FisherPoets on Bellingham Bay performing downtown, presenting poetry, songs and stories. On Sept. 22, the festival will unfold all day on sites donated by the Port of Bellingham – in Zuanich Point Park and on specified docks. Highlights include competitions, dock tours, children’s games, demonstrations, live entertainment and the centerpiece of the entire event: Seafood!
The Washington Health Benefit Exchange announced that expanded opportunities to connect with in-person help are being introduced now in support of Washington Healthplanfinder’s #GetCoveredWA effort – a statewide campaign to get all Washingtonians signed up for health and dental plans before the open enrollment period ends on Dec. 15.More than 70 enrollment events hosted across Washington state will be staffed with trained navigators or brokers who can walk customers through the enrollment process. In Whatcom, Skagit, and Snohomish County, WAHA is providing enrollment opportunities to residents over the next two weeks.
Can you believe that 2020 is right around the corner?! Let’s celebrate the end of the 2010s in style. Knut of Paellaworks will be here to serve up delicious oysters! And because we know that this is an exhausting time of year for us all, we’ve decided to celebrate the EAST COAST ball drop! We’ll do a Cava toast at 9pm, hugs & kisses all around, and then it’ll be time to either go home and rest or go to the next bar to celebrate Central time zone’s ball drop. Sparkles, glitter, and glam attire is encouraged, but not required. No cover, just come celebrate with us!
We are so looking forward to having Havilah, with the great Phil Sottile on guitar and David Vaughns on percussion, back in for a night of music and friendship!
www.havilahmusic.com
www.facebook.com/havilah.rand
From the jazz halls of New York City to the post-grunge scene of Seattle to the Live Music Capital of the World, Havilah is a true troubadour whose career has spanned several decades and multiple genres. Havilah has recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest after a ten year stint in Austin, TX where she earned herself a steady audience and a respected name amidst a community of stellar musicians. Her songwriting blends a rootsy, rhythmic edge with a poetic lyricism born of adventure, self exploration and artistry at its most poignant. Painted with lush vocal stylings and honey-smoked melodies, Havilah’s songs and voice remind the listener of Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone but with a soul all its own. Joined by slide guitarist Phil Sottile and percussionist Dave Vaughn the set list features country blues and pop covers in addition to Havilah’s outstanding originals
Come out and celebrate Valentine’s Day with us. We are partnering with Paellaworks and Antler Bakery to bring you an evening of love, delicious food and cider. Knut & Russ of Paellaworks will be grilling up oysters until they are all gone or until 9pm, whichever comes first. No reservations required.
Patrick McGinty, a local Bellingham adventurer, took the challenge in the Spring of 2019 to bike across the Southern Tier of the United States solo. It was a challenging, exciting, and eye-opening experience. In McGinty’s presentation, he will highlight the route he took, some of the challenges he encountered, what he ate, where he slept, how much it cost, what he learned, and what most surprised him. He will present his experience in a dynamic, fun way with photos and stories from the road. He has also chronicled his journey in his book, A Bike Trip Across America: A 3,411-mile Journey of Discovery.
Join local photographer and teacher Andy Porter as he describes his ongoing quest for the most awesome night sky picture, ever! Porter will share all he knows about camera settings, locations for great night sky imaging, and any other tips he can think of. He is currently a photography teacher at Burlington-Edison High School and teaches adult photography classes through Bellingham Parks and Rec, Burlington Parks and Rec, and the North Cascades Institute. See Porter’s work at www.AndyPorterImages.com. This in-person program will also be live-streamed via the Museum’s YouTube channel.
Free! $5 suggested donation. No need to register.
Before it became illegal for ordinary US citizens to enter the country, local traveler Jake Strauss was fortunate to spend time in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), known to Westerners as North Korea. Touring by bus and day hiking, he will share images and memories of the most reclusive country on earth.
Rick Lawler and his wife, Alice, have been to China several times on guided tours. In March of 2019, just before the pandemic, they decided to change things up and explore China on their own. Rick was fortunate that Alice speaks, reads, and writes Chinese and knows the culture. Their adventures included the world’s longest cable car, the world’s highest external elevator, and the world’s longest over-sea bridge. Join them for an unusual and exhilarating view of China that few Westerners have an opportunity to see.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall with Museum Educator Drew Whatley. Take a break from the mid-winter blues with some second-hand sun! Whatley will take you on a leisurely tour through some of the sights of Southern France. Aside from first-hand experiences and practical advice, he will discuss the history of Provence, a unique and beautiful region with a rich heritage that stretches back to the Romans.
Light refreshments served.
Free! / $5 suggested donation.
A mendicant Fool takes his ghosts for ‘ A Walk in the Woods’. Munger will share photos and stories of his adventures hiking the Appalachian Trail at the ripe age of 68.
Refreshments served.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for guest speaker Dr. Anne Marie Tietjen who will discuss her experiences during 12 months of working as a clinical psychologist at the National Referral Hospital in Thimphu, Bhutan, including the challenges and revelations of developing treatments that bridge healing traditions and reflect the specific realities of rapid Westernization in this deeply Buddhist culture. She and her husband, anthropologist Dr. John Barker, will also share photos of their adventures in Bhutan’s extraordinary cultural and geographic landscapes.
Bellingham Parks & Recreation, in partnership with Whatcom Museum, brings you Travelogue: an armchair journey to spectacular and interesting places.
Jeff Eastman spent 20+ years of his life living in Japan shares the ins and outs of traveling through this amazing country. Group tours of Japan are normally quite expensive. This presentation is designed to show you how you can visit the Land of the Rising Sun for much less money and get along just fine. No Japanese language required, just a sense of adventure combined with a desire to see some beautiful scenery and meet some very courteous people.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation with guest speaker AJ Barse in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
As a parent, how do you inspire your child to be inquisitive, explorative, or adventurous? Following AJ Barse’s past talk on Traveling and Trekking with a Toddler, we revisit his passion for wrapping adventure into parenting. AJ shares his perspectives as a mountaineer, diver, and dad who travels with a child with severe allergies. He’ll remind us that all parents can inspire their children to be explorers if we only “make time to explore.”
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation with guest speakers Ken and Kris Wilcox in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
Ken and Kris Wilcox share their experiences as independent travelers exploring some of Europe’s best—mountains, coasts, and ancient towns from Cinque Terre, the Dolomites, and Venice to Rovinj, Dubrovnik, Murren, Zermatt, and more.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation with guest speakers Alex Brede & Megan McGinty in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
The smallest country in East Africa holds amazing diversity and wisdom within its borders: the Congo-Nile Trail, Lake Kivu, Nyungwe Forest, and resilient communities rebuilding themselves. In January & February 2023, Alex Brede and Megan McGinty spent 6 weeks traveling and volunteering in Rwanda. In this presentation, they share what they learned and the new connections they made in both Rwanda and North America.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a FREE presentation with guest speaker Susan Conrad in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
Put any human in a tiny vessel and send them up a perilous 1,200-mile stretch of the Inside Passage of British Columbia and SE Alaska—and they are bound to have stories! Susan Conrad’s stories are not just filled with intrigue and adventure, but they have heart, inspiration, and gratitude. Susan will share stories and images of her 2022 solo, 78-day sea kayak expedition up the Inside Passage from Washington State to Sitka, Alaska, comparing and contrasting it with her 2010 expedition.
Relive the trip with Susan as she shares experiences of paddling marathon distances for days on end, struggling to interact with the sea on its terms, forging friendships with quirky people in remote locations, pretending not to be intimidated by 700-pound grizzly bears or 40-ton whales, and living her dream. Highlights will include her efforts to raise awareness of British Columbia’s proposed Marine Protected Areas in the Great Bear Rainforest, and retracing the paddle strokes of the late, great Audrey Sutherland, the grand dame of expedition paddling.
Prepare for an immersive journey through the pristine landscapes of Southeast Alaska with Christine Smith, a tour guide for the last 18-years aboard the Motor Vessel David B. Join Christine as she presents a captivating slideshow that showcases her deep connection to this remarkable region. Through vivid imagery and engaging storytelling, she’ll transport you to the heart of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest and Glacier Bay National Park, revealing the secrets of its rugged beauty and abundant wildlife. Gain a unique perspective on this awe-inspiring destination as Christine’s passion and expertise shine through in this informative and visually stunning presentation.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation with guest speaker John D’Onofrio in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
Iceland is a traveler’s dream. Exploring this diverse natural wonderland is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and its diverse beauty goes far beyond the epic waterfalls for which the island is famous: Towering sea cliffs, basalt canyons, technicolor Rhyolite Mountains, misty fjords, dwarf birch forests, and yes, an erupting volcano make for an unforgettable sensory experience.
Join Bellingham Parks & Recreation for a presentation with guest speakers Alex Brede & Megan McGinty in the Rotunda Room of Old City Hall.
The smallest country in East Africa holds amazing diversity and wisdom within its borders: the Congo-Nile Trail, Lake Kivu, Nyungwe Forest, and resilient communities rebuilding themselves. In January & February 2023, Alex Brede and Megan McGinty spent 6 weeks traveling and volunteering in Rwanda. In this presentation, they share what they learned and the new connections they made in both Rwanda and North America.
