WHATCOM COUNTY, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – It’s a weekend full of holidays with Yom Kippur starting on Friday, Oct. 11, Día de la Raza on Saturday, Oct. 12 and Columbus Day, Indigenous People’s Day and Canadian Thanksgiving all on Monday, Oct. 13. To celebrate, there are a ton of options for you across Whatcom County.
You can kick it all off with a free show in Ferndale on Friday. Bellingham’s “Pure Halcyon” will grace the stage at the Main Street Bar and Grill along with Skagit Valley’s “Lazy Acres.” The show starts at 8 p.m. and it’s a free show. You pay nothing. Nada. Zilch. Just pop into one of Ferndale’s most iconic dive bars, grab yourself a cold one and enjoy some killer tunes.
The fun continues in Ferndale on Saturday with the 2nd annual Zombie Fun Run. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure event where you can run one, two or three laps (full 5k) around the course. Zombie’s will shuffle their way through the streets, making for an unnerving and spooky experience.
Register to volunteer as a zombie by the end of the day on Friday. To run this free event, show up at the Pioneer Pavilion at 9 a.m. to register before the Zombie Fun Run kicks off at 10 a.m.
If you survive the zombie apocalypse and you want to hit up a supremely epic event, the City of Ferndale is celebrating the grand opening of the Metalworks Skate Park starting at 1 p.m. There will be a park preview, a ribbon cutting ceremony and a family-friendly skate jam. It’s open to all ages and abilities and there will be live music, food trucks and giveaways to go along with all the shredding.
Hopefully you’re not all tuckered out from all the events in Ferndale because it’s a weekend of music festivals in Whatcom County.
The 15th annual Lynden Music Festival runs through from Oct. 9 through Oct. 13. Musicians from around the world will perform at various locations along Front Street. There really is something for everyone; Morning Jazz, a celebration of music from the 80s and 90s, the soul music of Checo Tohomaso plus a whole lot more.
It all wraps up with headliners The Four Freshman at the WECU Expo Building at the NWW Fairgrounds on Saturday at 7 p.m. and a performance by Sherman Andrus at the First Christian Reformed Church on Sunday at 2 p.m. Get your tickets at the Lynden Music Festival’s website.
Not to be outdone by the city up north, Bellingham is hosting its own music festival this weekend. Bellingham EXIT runs from Oct. 10 through Oct. 13. Venues across downtown Bellingham are welcoming acts from across the country including The Free Label, Justin Martin, Reggie Watts and more. They’ve also invited artists to create “magical realms” in each venue, creating a multi-sensory experience you don’t want to miss.
If you’d rather not shell out your hard-earned dough to enjoy Bellingham EXIT, fear not. There are free events galore. A couple of free options include Checker Bloom, Gniffke and Bellflower performing at Ritual Records on Friday at 6 p.m. and Ramble Tamble hosting a free show with Shimmertraps and Sour Fuzz the same night at 8 p.m.
For a full list of all the shows and events, and to purchase tickets, go to Bellingham EXIT’s website.
Enjoy the holiday weekend and stay safe out there.
Listen to this week’s Lifestyle Lookout segment below and every Friday on the KGMI Morning News:
