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.
Join Sustainable Connections for a month-long celebration of local food and those who grow, raise, fish, make, and cook it to share with us! All month long we’ll be highlighting opportunities to meet your chef, farmer, fisher, and grocer and experience the unique flavors of our region.
Date and time: recurring weekly on Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Come Downtown every Wednesday with your Western Student, Staff, or Faculty ID to score deals and discounts all day long at 60+ businesses on everything from coffee to cocktails and everything in between. Check out all the participating businesses and learn more on our website at www.downtownbellingham.com/welcome-wwu.
Aaron Guest is returning to the brewery, playing piano in the taproom every Wednesday in September!
Head to the taproom on Wednesday nights from 6-8 pm to enjoy live music from the talented Aaron Guest. Aaron Guest plays familiar hits from the 50’s ‘til now, arranged in instrumental medleys. The taproom is 21+.
Aaron Guest revels in the space between the notes while simultaneously celebrating the power of expansive sound. As a charismatic performing musician working with several projects, he’s able to play many instruments in a large variety of styles.
Experience the vibrant coffee culture that Whatcom County has to offer! The Coffee Crawl is a digital passport program designed to percolate the senses and support locally owned businesses all in the same cup of goodness. Coffee, tea, and beverage lovers of all kinds are invited to visit the numerous local coffee shops and cafes in Whatcom County and be rewarded along the way! At each stop, visitors simply check in on their phones, collect points, and earn prizes.
This local promotion coordinated by Sustainable Connections and Visit Bellingham & Whatcom County is not just about indulging in delicious brews, it’s about supporting local businesses and contributing to the community’s growth – all while caffeinating at your own pace. Don’t miss out on exploring Whatcom County’s coffee hotspots while supporting local businesses all summer long!
Join Sustainable Connections for a month-long celebration of local food and those who grow, raise, fish, make, and cook it to share with us! All month long we’ll be highlighting opportunities to meet your chef, farmer, fisher, and grocer and experience the unique flavors of our region.
We are pleased to invite you to “A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists”, our new exhibition celebrating the works by Diana Grant, Carol Hartsock, Mira Kamada, Mary Jo Maute, Joy Olney, and Lori VanEtta.
“A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists” features works across various mediums and styles, ensuring there’s something to captivate every viewer. Each piece reflects the artist’s unique visions, from sun-drenched landscapes to delicate dance scenes, from abstract expressions of joy to introspective reflections on the season’s fleeting beauty and the world around us.
Free and open to public: June 11 – Sept 14, 2024. Tues-Sat, 11-4pm and by appointment (Open until 7pm on every First Friday during Art Walk) Cordata Gallery is located in the Cordata neighborhood with extensive parking.
Join M.A.D. H.O.P.E. Trainers for a special community session on how peers (ages 12+) and adults can offer support to a youth experiencing anxiety, depression and suicidal thought or intention. Learn what to do, what to say and where to go for support services and resources. This is a condensed version of the evidence-based, highly effective trainings we provide in classrooms across Whatcom County. We will go over:
–evidence-based ways to support mental health and wellness
–risk factors and warning signs to look for
–how to break the stigma around mental health and open up the conversation with someone who is struggling
–resources including the importance of trusted adults
Join us in the beer garden on Thursdays throughout the summer for Happy Hour BBQs featuring free live music, craft beer, food, and family-friendly fun!
On Thursday, September 12th enjoy free live music from Robert Sarazin Blake & The Happy Hour Band!
Doors open at 4 pm with music starting at 5!
For 24 summers Robert Sarazin Blake has hosted Happy Hour in the Boundary Bay Beer Garden. Every other week he performs with a revolving band of Bellingham’s finest folk & jazz musicians. In the weeks between, Blake invites a wide variety of local and touring folk musicians to entertain.
Each week at 6 pm the beer trivia live game show THE PINT IS RIGHT gives everyone a chance to win a pint of Boundary Bay beer by having, not the most correct answer, but the best!
Sept 6,7,12,19, Oct 24, Nov 1, 21, 22. 7pm. Eight nights, eight different chapters of ‘big jam stories’, the inter-related fables of a little boy living on top (and under) the historical “JAM” located below Ferndale’s pioneer park. The live theater experience features actors, readers, musicians, and even some puppets unfolding the story of a lonely but optimistic child, who, once great grandfather and great grandmother are lost under the jam, finds himself in search of the ‘all night dance’ to find people and play his jaw harp. Things do not go as well as hoped and the boy is himself lost under the jam where he searches for his family. Though the experience is not specifically just for kids, children are welcome. Tickets are free with rsvp at thereallybig.com/bigjamstories
Join us in the beer garden on Thursday evenings for our Garden Twilight Series!
The Garden Twilight Series presents Bellingham’s best roots musicians with performers from far and wide. Enjoy summer evenings in the beer garden with friends, beer, and live music from 8-11 pm.
On Thursday, September 12th we’ll be featuring JT & The Blue Impressions & The House Kat Band.
$10 – 20 suggested donation | All ages 8-10 pm | 21+ 10-11 pm
The Garden Twilight Series is co-produced with The Subdued Stringband Jamboree.
JT & The Blue Impressions features local musical legend Jan Peters and plays Blues Rhumba, Swing, Boogaloo, Funk, and more. Jan will be joined by:
Taylor Molzhan of Cardova & Groovebot – Guitar
Andy Simmons of Tea Seas, Jazz at Aslan, & County Rose – Bass
Kevin Chryst of Baby Cakes – Drums
Nakos Marker – Lap Steel
House Kat is a Bellingham-based Jazz/RnB/Fusion band that brings together elements of each to create a captivating sound. Sage Eisenhour fronts this hot young outfit and is a stunningly wonderful vocalist.
Join Sustainable Connections for a month-long celebration of local food and those who grow, raise, fish, make, and cook it to share with us! All month long we’ll be highlighting opportunities to meet your chef, farmer, fisher, and grocer and experience the unique flavors of our region.
Saddle up and support affordable housing for local families at Habitat for Humanity in Whatcom County’s 22nd Annual Raise the Roof Auction!
This year’s event consists of a week-long online auction that opens to the public on Friday the 13th, followed by an in-person ticketed event at Barnstar Events in Ferndale on Friday, September 20th. Between the live music, great food, games, and 200+ unique raffle items, it’s sure to be a rip-roaring good time!
Dust off your denim and don your favorite cowboy hat – there may even be a prize for best dressed!
Register today to try and lasso the top bid on our variety of auction items; from local goodies to adventurous excursions and more, there’s something for everyone in our online and in-person auctions! Any contribution helps Habitat blaze a trail toward affordable homeownership for Whatcom County families.
Purchase your tickets to the in-person party or register in advance and preview our auction items at auctria.events/GiddyUp
This is an end of summer favorite with our group. We should see several species of late-blooming plants, ripe blueberries, picas, and perhaps marmots and mountain goats. On the way up we will drop a car at the Heather Meadows visitor’s center for the return car shuttle. Our hike starts at Artists Point. After a mile we leave the Ptarmigan Ridge trail and descend into the Chain Lakes Basin. After passing three lakes we ascend to Hermann Saddle and drop down to the Bagley Lakes. Distance 6 miles, elevation gain 600 feet. Meet to carpool at the southeast corner of Sunset Square Safeway parking lot for an 8:00 AM departure. Contact Allan Richardson at 360-305-5270 or asrichardson5@gmail.com with any questions and sign up. Limit 12 in Mt. Baker Wilderness.
We are pleased to invite you to “A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists”, our new exhibition celebrating the works by Diana Grant, Carol Hartsock, Mira Kamada, Mary Jo Maute, Joy Olney, and Lori VanEtta.
“A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists” features works across various mediums and styles, ensuring there’s something to captivate every viewer. Each piece reflects the artist’s unique visions, from sun-drenched landscapes to delicate dance scenes, from abstract expressions of joy to introspective reflections on the season’s fleeting beauty and the world around us.
Free and open to public: June 11 – Sept 14, 2024. Tues-Sat, 11-4pm and by appointment (Open until 7pm on every First Friday during Art Walk) Cordata Gallery is located in the Cordata neighborhood with extensive parking.
Date and time: recurring on the first Friday of every month from 6 to 10 p.m.
First Fridays is a monthly celebration that showcases local artists and galleries, places to dine and sip, late night shopping, events, live music, and more! Join us on the first Friday of every month from 6 to 10 p.m.
With fresh programming each month, First Fridays provide opportunities to engage with Downtown Bellingham and discover the city center throughout the year. Dozens of businesses host artists, feature signature dishes, become a stage for musicians, and more!
It’s a great night to experience Downtown!
We’re THRILLED to be welcoming Jodi Picoult back to Bellingham as she shares her newest novel By Any Other Name!
Jodi will be in conversation with local author Becky Mandelbaum!
Tickets are also available online, by phone or in person from WWU’s box office.
(360) 650-6146
From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes a novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.
Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.
In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.
Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-nine novels, including Mad Honey (co-authored with Jennifer Finney Boylan), Wish You Were Here, The Book of Two Ways, A Spark of Light, Small Great Things, Leaving Time, and My Sister’s Keeper, and, with daughter Samantha van Leer, two young adult novels, Between the Lines and Off the Page. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband.
What you need to know:
-All tickets include a signed copy of By Any Other Name specially bound by the publisher.
-In lieu of a signing line, this event includes a photo line with a professional photographer who will capture a personal meet-and-greet moment for each ticketholder.
-Tickets must be purchased. Pre-order of the book will not grant you access to the event.
-If you are unable to attend the event, your book will be placed on hold at our Fairhaven store. You may request to have your book placed on hold at our Lynden location. Please allow time for transfer.
Additional copies of By Any Other Name and other books by Jodi Picoult will be available for purchase at the event. This event will include time for audience Q&A.
*$37 – Admission for one, 1 copy of By Any Other Name | $44 – Admission for two, 1 copy of By Any Other Name (to choose this option, you must add TWO $22 tickets to your cart).
Doors open at 6:15 for 7pm show time!
Becky Mandelbaum is the author of the novel The Bright Side Sanctuary for Animals and the story collection Bad Kansas, which received the Flannery O’Connor Award, a High Plains Book Award, and was a Kansas Notable Book. Her short stories, essays, and humor writing have appeared in The New Yorker, One Story, The Sun, The Georgia Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsewhere. She lives in Bellingham, Washington. (Photo credit Evan Holstrom)
Shop fresh and local at the Lynden Farmers Market! Now in its 13th season, the market is located in Centennial Park at the corner of 4th and Grover, across from the Lynden Public Library. Browse offerings by nearly 30 vendors who are passionate about connecting families and individuals with a wide variety of locally grown and made agricultural products, arts and crafts that showcase the beauty and abundance of Whatcom County. There’s even live music! Hours: Saturdays 10am-2pm. Double your spending dollars with an unlimited SNAP match!
The Whatcom County Farm Tour will be held on Saturday, September 14th, 2024 from 10:00 AM-4:00 PM! Each of the locations will offer a unique opportunity to meet the folks who grow and raise our food and learn more about how that food makes it from the farm to our plate. This self-guided event is FREE for all ages!
We are pleased to invite you to “A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists”, our new exhibition celebrating the works by Diana Grant, Carol Hartsock, Mira Kamada, Mary Jo Maute, Joy Olney, and Lori VanEtta.
“A Summer Celebration: Six Women Artists” features works across various mediums and styles, ensuring there’s something to captivate every viewer. Each piece reflects the artist’s unique visions, from sun-drenched landscapes to delicate dance scenes, from abstract expressions of joy to introspective reflections on the season’s fleeting beauty and the world around us.
Free and open to public: June 11 – Sept 14, 2024. Tues-Sat, 11-4pm and by appointment (Open until 7pm on every First Friday during Art Walk) Cordata Gallery is located in the Cordata neighborhood with extensive parking.
Join Bike Northwest for a 15-mile pedal through Everson’s country roads, featuring five farm tours and a farm-to-table dinner. Sample blueberry varieties, taste artisanal spirits, learn about shiitake mushroom cultivation, and interact with the farmers who supply local grocery stores with fresh produce, berries and mushrooms. This route is part of Sustainable Connection’s Farm to Table Trails route in Everson. Tour is from 1-7pm. Bring your own bike, or ask us for bike rental shop recommendations.
This series is designed for individuals interested in having fun outdoors learning about PNW mushroom ecology, tree identification, and outdoor skills such as fire-making and foraging.
Each class will incorporate hands-on activities.
Expect some gentle to moderate hiking, and some kneeling or squatting.
Each class will build on the previous one. For more details, keep reading!
Day 1: Signs of Autumn
(Details on location will be sent in September to registered individuals).
Introduction to mushroom ecology, common trees, and land use laws. Learn to scout for mushroom foraging spots.
Hands-on fungi ID activities to help you remember names and uses of various species.
Common land use laws explained
Forest Ecology crash course
Tree ID
Nature Connection
Self-led exploration
Upland taxonomy scavenger hunt
Foraging if we find fungi or plants to harvest
Please register for each class via the website.
Join Village Books in welcoming Hannah Murphy Winter and Billie Winter to celebrate Queer Power Couples!
This photographic celebration of queer love and excellence gathers fourteen LGBTQ+ power couples, offering a glimpse into the journeys that led to their meaningful relationships and thriving careers. These icons come from a range of backgrounds—they are trailblazers who lead research labs, kitchens, and news organizations; create life-giving art and music; and tell queer stories in award-winning books, films, and television shows. Queer Power Couples is a meaningful gift for queer folks, allies who want to learn more about queer culture, and anyone who wants to uplift the stories of the LGBTQ+ community.
From designer Debbie Millman’s ardent courtship of writer Roxane Gay to the romantic and creative relationship forged between Perfume Genius bandmates Mike Hadreas and Alan Wyffels on stage during their first world tour, this beautiful book offers a closer look into the lives of these inspiring LGBTQ+ couples.
Hannah Murphy Winter (she/they)is a journalist who writes about queerness and policies that impact LGBTQ+ lives. Her work frequently appears in Rolling Stone. She lives in Seattle with her wife, Billie Winter, three cats they found in their shed, and their rescue dog, Pippin. The first person she ever recognized as queer was Spinelli from Recess.
Billie Winter (she/her)is a photographer and videographer. She grew up in Queens, NY and worked at Rolling Stone as a photo editor for 15 years until she moved to Seattle and became an organic, regenerative farmer. She still has a crush on Cheetara from Thundercats.
Get ready to dust off your top hat, shine up your spats, and get those flapper dresses swinging! Prepare to be transported back to the roaring 1920s for a night of fun and entertainment to CELEBRATE 20 years of Brigadoon at our 20th Anniversary Gala & Auction!
Mark your calendars! Our Online auction begins on Saturday, September 7, 2024 and our In-Person Gala & Auction is Saturday, September 14th, 2024, 5:30-9:00 pm, at the Hotel Bellwether Ballroom.
Join us for a night of heartwarming stories and games with our incredible auctioneer, former Q13 Fox News anchor Matt Lorch, and Bellingham’s own Allen Fee from Kafé 104.1 as our Emcee! We will have exciting live & silent auctions, a wine wall, dessert dash, smooches with our pooches, a delicious dinner, and a photographer ready to snap pics of your best roaring 1920s style. So, dress to impress – let’s have a “Barking Good Time”!
Buy your tickets today at brigadoondogs.org. Don’t miss out on this chance to enjoy a night of elegance and fun while supporting a great cause – Early Bird pricing of $90 available UNTIL SEPTEMBER 7, which includes a chance at winning a $100 auction credit!
Stop by the beer garden on Saturday, September 14th for an unforgettable evening of live music as we kick off our 29th anniversary celebrations with North Sound Soul!
Doors open at 5 pm with music starting at 6. All ages are welcome.
Tickets are $8 presale, $10 at the door. Presale tickets include a coupon for $1 off your first beer at the event.
Established in 2021, North Sound Soul is a 9-piece soul/funk/rock band comprised of savvy veterans of Bellingham’s music scene. The band features a high-energy horn section, and dynamic rhythm section and is fronted by a tag-team duo of powerhouse vocalists. With an ever-expanding catalog, no song or genre is safe from getting the North Sound Soul horn-groove treatment. Their material will take you on a journey from early Motown-era standards by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam & Dave thru 70’s funk cuts by Aretha Franklin, Al Green, and Stevie Wonder, culminating in the classic horn-focused tracks by Chicago and Tower of Power.
Bar Two Eleven is excited to have Jasmine Greene Band and Without A Doubt as our opening night performers!
