Bellingham SeaFeast 2017 Offers Family Fun, Fabulous Food

The 2nd annual Bellingham SeaFeast, scheduled Sept. 22-23, will overflow with family fun and fabulous food – and admission is free to almost everything. New activities combine with last year’s favorites for this celebration of the local maritime and commercial fishing industry, a two-day event presented by City of Bellingham, Port of Bellingham, and Haggen Northwest Fresh. Activities begin Friday night, 5-11 p.m., and on Saturday 11 a.m.-6 p.m., plus a band performance afterward. Bellingham SeaFeast 2017 starts Friday, Sept. 22 with two major events in downtown Bellingham:

• SeaFeed at the Square gets everything started, a $50 dinner of world-class seafood featuring raw and grilled oysters, fresh grilled salmon, and a Dungeness crab boil served from 5-8:30 p.m. at Depot Market Square. A limited number of tickets sell at BellinghamSeaFeast.com until noon Sept. 22. Any remaining tickets will sell at the door for $60 apiece. Men and women of the sea present their way of life in poetry, music, sea shanties, storytelling, and videos during FisherPoets-On-Bellingham Bay from 7 p.m. into
• Men and women of the sea present their way of life in poetry, music, sea shanties, storytelling, and videos during FisherPoets-On-Bellingham Bay from 7 p.m. into late night at four downtown venues. A $5 badge, available at each venue, is good for entry at all of them.

• The Food Court has 17 vendors. Brews with a View offers local beer and wine. The Main Stage entertainment runs from 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. with five live bands and the Lummi Nation Black Hawk Dancers. The Skagit Swings All Star Band leads off and the night ends with local favorite Baby Cakes at 6:45 p.m.
• On the park’s nearby shoreline at 1 p.m., attendees can watch the U.S. Coast Guard stage a rescue demonstration in Bellingham Bay.
• Taste the Sea: A Sustainable Seafood Experience presented by Haggen Northwest Fresh offers samplings of Pacific NW seafood (Ocean Beauty salmon, Alaskan Leader cod, Penn Cove
• shellfish, along with Ranger the Free Range Chicken from Draper Valley) in four shifts between 11:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 apiece ($5 ages 12-U) online until 11:30 p.m. Sept. 22. Any remaining tickets will sell at the door.
• The International Salmon BBQ Grilling Championships start at noon in the parking lot of the Squalicum Boathouse. For the People’s Choice Award, the public may purchase tickets for competitors’ samples from 12:45-2:45 p.m. ($1 apiece) and vote for their favorite Top 3.
• Eight boat trips and guided tours sail throughout the afternoon. One route features a tour of Bellingham Cold Storage, and the other gives passengers a view of the downtown waterfront redevelopment projects. Tickets to both online go for $10 apiece until 11:30 p.m. Sept. 22.
• The new SeaFeast Wharf features about 100 artists and vendors, including a maritime-themed Art Walk organized by Allied Arts of Whatcom County on display from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Also, sponsors, general vendors, and the Explore Some More educational and informational booths provide interactive action, some offering prizes.
• Commercial fishing is highlighted with scheduled dock walks, guided tours of active boats, special skills demos, a race of teams swimming in survival suits, and the sale of fish to take home or pick up later. This is the insider’s look into the outstanding local resources of the Port of Bellingham and the maritime and marine industry that provide more than 1,700 direct jobs (6,000+ counting indirect) earning $94.5 million in wages, according to public surveys.