For many years, a big part of Bellingham’s Memorial Day tradition has been the Ski to Sea race and accompanying festivities. The race itself is a 93.5 relay race from MT. Baker to Bellingham Bay encompassing seven different sports: Cross Country Ski; Downhill Ski/Snowboard; Running; Road Bike; Canoe; Mountain Bike and Kayak.
The weekend of fun also includes a community block party with music and food (and a Boundary Bay Brewery beer garden!), a junior Ski to Sea Race for the little ones, a hometown parade and special events all around town – including plenty of ones right here at Boundary Bay Brewery.
Starting Friday, May 25th, we’ll have all kinds of family friendly entertainment to keep everybody busy. This Friday kicks off the Official Ski to Sea Block Party in our Beer Garden! There’ll be music, dancing, food and fun. It’s a costume party too (NOT required!), so wear your Ski to Sea themed attire for a chance to win a fabulous prize! Dress as an original 1911 racer or a modern day racer…be as creative as you want. AND, the first 800 racers who show up with their race bibs get an official 2012 Ski to Sea beer glass for free! Oh, and be sure to enter the Ski to Sea and Alaska Airlines contest for a chance to win two round trip tickets from Bellingham to ANYWHERE Alaska Airlines flies. We’ll have our BBQ up and running and there’ll be live music by The Atlantics, too!
Then, on Saturday, May 26th our Beer Garden will open at 2pm and we’ll have the BBQ running all day. The Bellingham Firefighters Pipes & Drums band will be performing throughout the afternoon along with performances from other pipe and drum bands from the area. Around 7pm, we’ll start charging a $5 cover for the live music by Sundance which is all ages till 10pm.
The weekend’s festivities will wrap up on Sunday, May 27th with live music by the True Spokes (formerly Flowmotion) at 8:30pm. The show has a $10 cover as is 21+only, but the Beer Garden and BBQ open at 2, so people of all ages are welcome to relax down there and enjoy BBQ and beer until around 8 when we’ll start charging covers.
Be sure to try some of our Ski to Sea ESB this weekend, too! It’s brewed specially to commemorate and celebrate the Ski to Sea annual race and this rare brew of ours only gets released once a year. It’s available on tap here at the brewpub and in 22 oz. bottles sold here at Boundary Bay Brewery and at local grocery stores like Haggens.
Our Ski to Sea ESB is a copper colored English style pale ale that emphasizes the subtle blend of imported and domestic malts. The addition of dry hops adds a delightful hoppy aroma and a slight floral, grassy flavor.
We’ve even got Ski to Sea ESB tshirts and hoodies if you wanna commemorate your experience here in Bellingham this weekend!