Ski to Sea Weekend with BEER!

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!

Local Beer, Local Food and Local Music!

photo courtesy of Downtown Sounds website

Summer in Bellingham (once it FINALLY comes) is something to behold.  And one of the best parts of it is the local, outdoor concerts that take place every Wednesday from 5:00 – 9:00 pm, starting July 14th through August 11th.

The Downtown Sounds concerts are free, great for the whole family and a wonderful way to experience this incredible community.  Each week, music will be brought to you by popular local and regional bands and there’ll be local foods and beverages for purchase too!  The great eats will be provided by Bayou on Bay, Man Pies, and Peace Love Pizza and for the over 21 crowd there’ll be a Boundary Bay Brewery Beer Garden!

Trust us, you do NOT want to miss these outdoor concerts…

July 6 – March Fourth Marching Band w/ Lucky Brown

July 13 – Kytami w/ Snug Harbor

July 20 – Acorn Project w/ The Polyrythmics

July 27 – Flowmotion w/ Tea Seas Little Big Band

August 3 – The Moondoggies w/ Polecat and w/ Robert Sarazin Blake

FREE * ALL AGES

Wednesdays, July 6th – August 3rd, 2011

Doors at 5:30pm, music from 6pm-9:30pm

1300 block of Bay Street

The Party STARTS at Boundary Bay Brewery!

join us in our Beer Garden!

It’s hard to believe, but it’s already time again for the annual Ski to Sea race here in Bellingham.

The Ski to Sea Festival consists of a 100 mile relay race of seven different sports, a parade, and other special events provide a wide variety of entertainment and adventure for all who participate.

A phrase you’ll hear often about Ski to Sea weekend is “It All Ends in Fairhaven” which is where the finish line to the race is as well as the street fair on Sunday.  But, while it may all END in Fairhaven, we say that party STARTS at Boundary Bay Brewery!

We’ve got a long weekend packed full of events to keep you entertained and best of all, this year there will be a shuttle leaving from our front door and heading to Fairhaven and Zuanich Park on Ski to Sea day (Sunday, May 29th). And just $2 will get you unlimited rides
all day long!

Thursday Happy Hour BBQ

Thursday, May 26th: 

Happy Hour BBQ in the beer garden, 4-6pm. All ages welcome. Burgers, Dogs, Salmon & Veggie Burgers, only $5 each. Onion rings and fries available too. BBQ continues till 8pm. Free live music starts at 6pm with your host, Robert Sarazin Blake.

Friday, May 27th:

Fish Fry Fryday.  Fish and Chips in the garden, Boundary style. Beer battered Rockfish and crispy golden fries. Onion rings available too. Free live music featuring local musicians starts at 6pm. All ages till 9pm.

Later that night: DJ Idlhnds Presents: Hip Hop to Help. Live performances by My Dad Bruce, The Bad Tenants, Bloodshot. Plus DJ sets by DJ Einstein & DJ Idlhnds. 9pm, 21+, $5 in the beer garden. Beer! Hip-Hop! Raffle! Proceeds to benefit Amy’s Place. www.amysplaceforyouth.org 

Amy’s Place Drop-in Center began in December 2006 to address the gap in services being provided to the homeless, runaway and street youth population in Whatcom County. Amy’s Place quickly grew from serving only a few youth a night to now providing services for up to 48 youth Friday and Saturday evenings. Many of the youth served at Amy’s Place are the hardest to serve and really don’t fit into Whatcom County’s current shelter and support system network because of chemical dependency issues and mental illness. At Amy’s Place, the goal is to build relationships with these hard-to-reach youth so that they can choose for themselves to live in recovery, enter treatment and leave the streets.

delicious craft beer!

Sat, May 28th:

Ski to Sea Block Party/Luau!  4-8pm. Wear your best Hawaiian Luau outfit and get ready to hula for a chance to win two tickets to Honolulu, HI, courtesy of Alaska Airlines! There’ll be live music, dancing, food, and fun! First 800 racers with their bibs to show up get an official Ski to Sea drinking glass!

Later than Night: Music by the The DT’s, Tom Price Desert Classic (Garage / Post punk / Rock band from Seattle), & Don’t.  9:30pm, 21+, Cover $6 
”Hard soul is a description of the DT’s sound: a head-on collision of dirty R&B and raw-soul influenced hard rock” (what’s up magazine) The Dts originated as a threesome at the tail-end of 2001. Guitarist Dave Crider (Mono Men, Watts, and head honcho of Estrus Records) and Diana Young-Blanchard (chanteuse, writer, and song stylist, Madame X) are long-time friends who conceived the idea of forming a band with heavy influences of 70’s-style-hard-rock, injected with a flavorful dose of soul sensibility, likened to that of greats like Otis, Al, and Ike & Tina to name a few. Shortly after the dynamic duo design, they latched onto powerhouse drummer Phil Carter and spent their first year blowing people’s minds with a full-on, Hard Soul sound rarely matched by any group twice their number. DON’T pulls their sound from punk, blues and surf, creating a dark and soulful blend of rock. DON’T features Dave Minick, Sam Henry, Dan Lowinger, and Jenny Don’t.  Featuring two ex-Bellingham musician’s Dan Lowinger and Jenny Don’t, Portland’s DON’T mix a dark and brooding sound with surf rock for a combination that is winning over the Portland music scene and beyond. DON’T initially came together seven months ago

Sun, May 29th:

Flowmotion and special guest Cody Beebe and the Crooks.  9pm, 21+, $10 cover Flowmotion, one of Seattle’s most distinctly diverse rock bands. This is an act that fails to fall into an easily packaged genre, succeeds in defying stereotypes, and throws one hell of a party no matter what city, town or festival the five-piece band happens to land in.  one Oregon paper declared their band “a high-energy, multi-genre rock and roll explosion.”

And don’t forget to try some of our special Ski to Sea ESB – a rare brew only available for about a month that was brewed to commemorate the Ski to Sea 100 years of racing.