The big news of the week is the return of Bellingham’s St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities, which, as always, take place on the weekend prior to the holiday as well as on March 17.
Allied Arts of Whatcom County is hosting a hybrid festival highlighting the many diverse talents in our county’s visual and performing arts. And speaking of creative, two longtime arts events, the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest and the Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, are seeking entries.
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Returns!
Janet Lightner, co-owner of Boundary Bay Brewery, is thrilled that the annual Bellingham Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is returning Saturday, March 12. Due to construction on State Street, there’s a new route this year. The parade begins near the Pump Track on Laurel Street.
If you have a float, marching band or another large group, please pre-register. Otherwise, just show up and line up on the corner of Laurel and Cornwall between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Parade Committee members will help direct attendees to the appropriate staging area from there. The parade starts at noon. The route starts at West Laurel Avenue, takes a right on Granary Avenue, a right on Chestnut Street, then heads up a slight hill to take a right on Railroad Avenue, ending at Depot Market Square. Find out more at stpatsbham.com.
The Grand Marshal this year is Erika Lautenbach, the director of the Whatcom County Health Department. The parade is dedicated to honoring our public safety personnel each year and our health department has been an unsung hero in our community safety for too long, Lightner said. Be aware that the annual Runnin’ O’ The Green starts at 10 a.m. at Depot Market Square. To register, go to cob.org and search for Runnin’ O’ the Green.
Events at Boundary Bay Brewery, 1107 Railroad Ave., include the reopening of Bellingham’s Backyard (aka the beer garden) with music and barbecue. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., The Moving Hats will play upbeat Irish folk tunes and the Pipes and Drum Band round out the outdoor celebration.
The indoor action starts at 11 a.m. with Bob’s Your Uncle, and continues with the Bellingham Fiddle Club (made up of Cayley Schmid’s students), Penk O’Donnell School of Irish Dance, The Devillies and the Penk O’Donnell dancers.
On St. Patrick’s Day proper — Thursday, March 17 — the Boundary Bay party continues starting at 12:30 p.m. with The Devillies, followed by Cayley and Clea performing Irish fiddle and cello classics, The Moving Hats, and Lindsay Street. The Penk O’ Donnell Dancers perform at 1:45, 3:30, 4:45, 6:45 and 8 p.m.
The beer garden will open at 4 p.m. with traditional barbecue and corned beef and cabbage (reservations are recommended). Robert Sarazin Blake and the Dublin Letters will perform Irish music on the outdoor stage from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Suggested donation is $10.
Whatcom Cultural Arts Festival
This festival organized by Allied Arts celebrates the growing cultural diversity of our area with visual art, music, dance, crafts, food, storytelling and more. This year’s Cultural Arts Festival will be hybrid and will include exhibits and vendors booths, live interactive workshops, and performances from noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12 at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal, 355 Harris Ave.
The event includes an online market and live recordings of the performances on social media. Call 360-676-8548 for more details, or go to alliedarts.org.
Calls for poetry and art
Feel inspired to pen a verse? The annual Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest, open only to residents of Whatcom County, is accepting submissions through March 31. The event is named for early Whatcom County resident Sue Crocker Boynton, who came to Bellingham as a bride in 1906, taught classes at the YWCA and, in 1917, climbed Mt. Baker. Boynton died in 1981.
The story of her life is told in “The Sue Boynton Story” by Dorothy Koert, published in 1982 by the Whatcom County Historical Society. The contest is a program of Whatcom Poetry Series, a nonprofit organization.
Winning poems will be published in a chapbook collection, as well as displayed on the Sue C. Boynton Poetry Walk outside the Bellingham Public Library and inside Whatcom Transportation Authority buses, and other places around Whatcom County. The award ceremony will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 19 on Zoom. Email questions to BoyntonPoetryContest@hotmail.com or head to thepoetrydepartment.wordpress.com/sue-boynton.
Applications are also being accepted through April 1 for the 2022 Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, to be held the first two weekends in October. The tour is open to professional artists who reside and work in Bellingham or surrounding Whatcom County communities.
The focus of the event is to provide a fun and enticing exhibition and sales opportunity for local artists; to create an opportunity for patrons, supporters and the art-interested public to visit the artists in their studios and galleries; and to promote sales, interest and heightened art and cultural awareness within the community.
No studio? No problem! Some artists’ studio spaces may not be, what they deem, as presentable to the public. It is common for artists to share exhibition space with other tour artists in their studios, so don’t let that hold you back. The quality of the artist’s work is the most important consideration. See what it’s all about at studiotour.net.
Margaret Bikman’s column runs every Wednesday. Reach her at margaret.bikman@gmail.com.
