Category Archives: Blog

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Bellingham Nightlife News

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Rook and Rogue closing at end of year

The owners of Rook and Rogue Game Pub have announced that December 31 will be their last day of operations unless a buyer comes forward. The bar has apparently been running at a loss for its entire run. UPDATE: Closure has been moved up to December 8.

Saturday night karaoke at Red Rum

Red Rum has added a second Freaky Tiki Karaoke night on Saturday at 11pm, so now you can sing in its tropical environs on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Station Social House closed

Observers recently happened upon the body of the Station Social House. The establishment had apparently been dead for some time, unnoticed.

Late-night industry happy hour at the Cabin

The Cabin is now open nightly until 2am, with happy hour prices plus $5 Fernet shots for fellow bar kids.

L&L Libations open

Leaf & Ladle’s bar annex, L&L Libations, has opened one door south of the restaurant. They’re open daily at 4pm.

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Bellingham Halloweekend, Part 1

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by June Hathaway

It’s time for Halloween, round one. With the holiday falling on a Thursday, you might expect the festivities to cluster on the weekend after. But Halloween is a season now, so we get two weekends of horrible hijinks. (This isn’t a comprehensive listing of spooky events – there’s too much going on for that! See every single accursed adult activity at the Bellingham on Tap Events Calendar.)

Ready? Let’s dive in.

Bleedingham Horror Movie Festival

For the eighth year, Bleedingham celebrates homegrown horror.

The Night Gallery
Friday 5-10pm at the Majestic, free/by donation

Bleedingham’s opening night party features a delightfully dark and otherworldly gathering of artists, crafters, writers, ghost hunters, tarot, and more.

Movie Screenings
Best Feature: Saturday 3pm at the Limelight, $9
International Films and Creepy Cornucopia (shorts): Sunday 1:15pm at the Pickford, $11

Halloween Spirit Walk

Friday 5:30-9pm, Barkley Village, tickets $40

Celebrate the season with spirits from ten different regional distilleries, a haunted outdoor beer garden, and live music from Tom Petty tribute band Petty or Not.

Haunted House at Boundary Bay

Friday and Saturday at Boundary Bay Brewery, $5 for 6-9pm all ages version, $10 for super scary 21+ version from 9-11pm

The 5th annual Nightmare on Railroad in the Boundary Bay Brewery FEAR Garden benefits the Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth (BAAY).

Make.Shift Halloween Cover Show V: The Final Showdown

Friday 6:30pm, at Make.Shift, $10

The last ever Make.Shift Halloween Cover Show (sobs).

3rd Annual Beastly, Frightful, Unspeakably Spooky Circus of Doom

Friday 7pm (21+). Saturday 6pm (all ages) and Saturday 9pm (21+,) Sunday 4pm (all ages), at the Cirque Lab, $18 advance (12 hours prior to show) $23 at door.

Hosted by Deanna Fleysher of Butt Kapinski fame, this show aims to tickle your funny bone and give you the heebie-jeebies.

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Rock the Block: Art Walk, Adult Swim & more

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Lace up your walking shoes and polish the schmutz off your sunglasses, because we’ve got a perfect storm of sidewalk mingling coming up.

Thursday, August 1: Rock & Vote

State Street businesses will have food and drink specials, plus voter registration tables, in support of Hollie Huthman, city council candidate and owner of the Racket/Shakedown. It’s all happening in the vicinity of State and Chestnut from 4 to 7pm. At 7:30, pop into the Shakedown to see Hollie’s band, Dryland, with Stereo Donkey opening.

Friday, August 2: Downtown Art Walk

Drink art! See wine! Downtown sidewalks come alive every first Friday for the Downtown Art Walk, and this Friday will be no exception. 6-10pm,

Saturday, August 3: Endless Summer Block Party

Head to Stone’s Throw Brewing in Fairhaven for music from the Brittany Collins Band and Groovebot, food trucks, and, of course, beer. The event is free, but you’ll have the opportunity to toss a few bucks in the direction of Recreation Northwest. 11am-9pm.

Sunday, August 4: Adult Swim Block Party

Gruff Brewing and Boundary Bay Brewery are joining forces to benefit Shifting Gears, and they want to get you wet in the process. To that end, there’ll be squirt guns, bubble machines, water balloons, and slippery yard games. DJs and food trucks will round out the dry side of the bill. Noon-4pm.

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Bars open on Christmas

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Here ya go – bars that will be open Christmas Day/Night, listed in order of opening time. The Wild Buffalo and Cap’s will both have karaoke tonight, with Aireekah Laudert and Zach Zinn as the respective hosts.

Waterfront – 8am

State Street – 4pm (note: the Beaver will be closed)

Rumors – 4pm

Cap’s – 5pm

Galloway’s – 5pm

Grand Ave – 5pm

Jack’s – 6pm

Uisce – 6pm

McKay’s – 6pm

The Orion – 7pm

Wild Buffalo – 9pm

Blog

Weekender: Bellingham events for September 21-23

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Commercial Street Night Market

This is the last Night Market of the season, and it’s gonna be a doozy. Bike polo, sea shantys, a climbing wall, and karaoke, alongside local vendors and the Uisce beer garden. Friday from 6pm-10pm on Commercial Street between Magnolia and Holly.

SeaFeast

The name kinda says it all unless you, like me, see “SeaBeast,” in which case we will both *probably* be disappointed. SeaFeast encompasses a huge array of activities, so be sure to check their website for complete info. In a nutshell, there’s poetry, art, and film downtown on and seafood galore at the harbor on Friday.  Saturday brings demonstrations, activities, music and, of course, more food.  Friday noon-11, Saturday 10am-8pm, various locations.

Your Vote Counts Block Party

Indivisible is throwing a party, and you’re invited! Grab a brew at the beer garden and chat with the candidates and reps from organizations tabling the event. There’ll be music and dance, and you can even register to vote. Sunday 1pm-3pm at Depot Square Market.

Lyrics Born with Bukue One and All Star Opera

I like it, I love it! Bay area rapper and “serial collaborator” Lyrics Born always puts on a great show, full of melodic funk. He’s touring in support of a new album, Quite a Life, and supported by Seattle hiphop collective All Star Opera and fellow California veteran Bukue One. Sure to be a sweaty good time. Sunday 9pm at the Wild Buffalo.

For a full list of the weekend’s events, see the Bellingham on Tap calendar.

 

Blog

Weekender for September 14-16

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Sippin’ on Cider: A Bellingham Cider Tasting Festival

Lost Giants Cider is hosting Sippin’ on Cider, a festival to benefit Shifting Gears. There’ll be nine cideries participating, plus food trucks, music, outdoor living rooms, games, and a photo booth. $25 at the door gets you all that, an 8 ounce tasting glass, and three fill-ups. Friday, 6pm-10pm, 1200 Meador Ave.

Maneken Hand, Dreadful Children, Gallowmaker ItchyKitty, Adventur

Waterfront music booker and N7E Records founder Robby Cleary died unexpectedly this week. This would have been a great show in any event, but now it’s also a chance to honor the memory of a true and tireless punk believer. Waterfront Tavern, 521 Holly St., Saturday at 9pm, $7.

Cascadia Skillshare and Barter Gathering

Go up the country and learn “practical new-fangled and old-timey skills. Bee keeping, yarn spinning, native plant foods, fermentation, gardening wisdoms, livestock care, food preservation and much more.” There’ll be hourly classes and a field to barter your stuff in, plus music, food and beer.  Admission is $20 a day or $35 for both days, and you can camp Saturday night for an extra $10. Saturday/Sunday, 10am-5pm, on north Lake Whatcom at 2582 North Shore Rd.

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Bellingham food trucks A-Z (okay, A-W)

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by June Hathaway

Food trucks are like the craft breweries of Bellingham grub on the go – they’re trendy, they’re local, and there’s a new one every time you turn around. In fact, the local food truck scene has grown by piggybacking on the proliferation of brewpubs, as the mobile eateries allow  kitchen-less breweries to keep hungry patrons bellied up to the bar.

While not all of these fit the classic food truck mold – the taco trucks pretty much stay in one place, and Mile Pie Club is bicycle-based – they all provide satisfying to-go eats. The links will take you to each truck’s Facebook page, where you can see their upcoming locations.

A Que Tacos

Back East BBQ

Bare Bones BBQ

Big Stick BBQ

Big Trouble Dumplings

Chow Gourmet Hot Dogs

Cicchitti’s Pizza

Cubano Cubano Sandwiches

El Tule Tacos

El Tapatio Tacos

Hot Mess Cheese Steaks

JT’s Smokin’ BBQ

Mile Pie Club

Mouth Hole Chicken and Waffles + Sandwiches

New Public Cafe Plant-based Eats

Ovn Wood Fired Pizza

Sage Against the Machine Vegan Eats

Simmering Tava Organic Indian Food

Something Cheezy Grilled Sandwiches

Streat Food Burgers and Sandwiches

Super Mario’s Salvadoran Food

Tacos Tecalitlan

Weeny Bunz Hot Dogs

 

 

Blog

Comings and goings: Old friends edition

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Tonight we say goodbye to two old friends, and Oh Hey! to another. Note that if you have been blessed with stamina today, you could do both of these things.

Long-time ‘hamsters, musicans and all-around cool guys Peadar MacMahon and Bradley Leckron are packing up and moving to Ireland. Say goodbye at Menace Brewing tonight at 7pm, where Peadar and the Black Lung Canaries will be playing a farewell show.

In other news, Jordan Rain, aka DJ Yogoman, has been kickin’ it in Texas for some time now. Yogoman’s back, and he brought Reggae Night with him. Dance and say hello at Boscoe’s, tonight and every Monday night at 9pm.

–June Hathaway

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Washington Beer Awards 2018: Bellingham kicks ass

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by June Hathaway

It’s easy to forget how lucky we are, and take our local breweries for granted. Good thing the Washington Beer Awards are here to remind us! Here are the Bellingham (and thereabouts) breweries that brought home medals from the 2018 awards.

Aslan Brewing

Gold

American-Style Stouts: American Stout

Specialty Saisons:Justice Temple

Bronze

Berliner-Style Weisses: Disco Lemonade

Atwood Ales (Blaine)

Best Washington Malt Beer: Triticale

Gold

Herb & Spice Beers:  Mo’s Saison

Chuckanut Brewery

Gold

Vienna-Style Lagers: Chuckanut Vienna Lager

Other German Amber Beers: Chuckanut Marzen

Silver

Bohemian style pilsner: Chuckanut Pilsner

Bronze

German Dark Lagers: Chuckanut Dunkel

International Lagers: Chuckanut Mexican Lager

Bocks and Doppelbocks: Chuckanut Doppelbock

Kulshan Brewing

Gold

Other American-Style Lagers: Amber Lager

Bocks and Doppelbocks: Kulshan Maibock

Irish Red Ales: Red Cap

Belgian Strong Ales: Belgian Golden Strong

Silver

German-style Pilsner: Kulshan Pilsner

Melvin Brewing

Gold

American-Style Strong Pale Ales: Tiger Style

Silver

Strong Porters: Melixor Baltica

North Fork Brewery (Deming)

Bronze

Abbey-Inspired Ales: Brother Crazy John

Belgian Fruit Beers: No. 13 Baby

Stones Throw Brewery

Bronze

English Pale Ales: Flat Penny Pale

Wander Brewing

Large Brewery of the Year

Gold

Irish Stouts: Correspondent

Belgian Ales: Wanderale

Berliner-Style Weisses: Foeder-Aged Berliner Weiss

Silver

Wood & Barrel Aged Beers: Wild Warehouse

Bronze

Wood & Barrel Aged Sour Beers: Plum Bob
German-style Pilsners: Doglost

Blog

Downtown Bellingham Happy Hour – every Thursday in March

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I’m just gonna share this announcement from the Downtown Bellingham Partnership, who have done a wonderful thing in putting this together:

“$6 craft cocktails! | $5 wines! | $4 beers! | 1/2 off apps! Every Thursday in March from 4:00pm-7:00pm. Simple as that!

Join us for Downtown Bellingham’s first-ever Happy Hour Thursdays, a full month of amazing happy hour specials at some of Bellingham’s best bars and restaurants.

RSVP to keep updated on the deliciously discounted bevies and snacks coming to you soon, all at:
Bayou on Bay
Black Sheep on Holly
Camber
Casa Que Pasa
Cosmos Bistro
Grand Avenue Alehouse
Horseshoe Cafe
Hundred North
La Fiamma :: Wood-Fire Pizza
The Local Public House
Old World Deli
The Orion
The Racket – Bar & Pinball Lounge
Redlight
Rook & Rogue Board Game Pub
Uisce Irish Pub
Vinostrology”