Procession of the Species is back!
Once again, we’re teaming up with Gabriel’s Art Kids on the Procession of the Species parade and festival to bring color, creativity, and fun to downtown Bellingham. Create your own wildlife-inspired costume for the parade, and then stick around for live music, interactive performances, face painting, and hands-on art activities. Don’t have your costume yet? Join Gabriel’s Art Kids for a family craft day this Sunday, April 26.
The parade and festival are supported by our Downtown Activation and Beautification grants.
- Date and time: 2-6 p.m. | May 2
- Location: Parade begins at Bellingham High School and ends in Maritime Heritage Park
- More info: Visit Gabriel’s Art Kids website
Speaking of the Downtown Activation and Beautification program…
Have you noticed the floral installations that have been blooming in windows downtown? The pop-up displays are a result of the Bellingham Blooms project — one of five projects selected for the most recent round of funding support through our Downtown Activation and Beautification Program. The North Sound Flower Cooperative — a group of Whatcom and Skagit cut flower growers and floral designers — is creating the displays using locally-grown flowers. New installations will go up each month through November, and you can expect to see lots of them during the May 1 First Friday Art Walk.
Learn more about this project and the other four selected on the Downtown Activation and Beautification Program webpage.
New accessibility tool available for City PDFs
We recently rolled out DocAccess, a tool that automatically converts PDFs on our website into accessible, mobile-friendly HTML pages. It offers screen-reader support, easy navigation, and on-demand assistance for people with visual impairments who need extra help accessing materials. Learn more and find out how to use the tool through the DocAccess Support Guide on our website.
Feedback welcome on Whatcom County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan
Whatcom County is updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan. This plan guides how we prepare for and reduce the impacts of disasters, ranging from flooding to supply chain disruptions. Community input is an important part of this process, and there are two opportunities for public engagement coming up:
- Survey: Review the draft plan on the Whatcom County emergency management webpage and share your feedback through a brief online survey by May 30.
- Open house: Join the County for an open house on June 2 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Emergency Operations Building, 3888 Sound Way, Bellingham. You can also join the open house virtually via Zoom.
Part of South Bay Trail closes temporarily
A portion of South Bay Trail between the Boulevard Boardwalk and Fairhaven is temporarily closed. This stretch of trail runs through private property, and the landowner is now moving forward with a new development. Construction is expected to take up to two years, but if possible, the developer will open that new trail before the rest of construction is complete. We’re also working to have a permanent easement dedicated for a new trail near the current one.
We’ve put a detour in place along 11th Street (see details in the map below). We recognize a detour is never as good as the real thing, and we appreciate your patience while this work moves forward. You can follow along and find more details on our project page.
