🐹 Femme Metal Collective ⚡️🛠️⚡️

Good morning, Bellingham. This is your Friday update from The Hamster Wheel.

So many fun garage sales out there this weekend. Hit the sale-trail… you never know what you might find.

Have fun, and stay safe out there!

Nature, Community, Sasquatch, UAP

Photos From the Hoods

Tag @bellinghamsterwheel on Instagram or reply to this email to get your photos in The Hamster Wheel.

Weather Forecast

Friday: 77°F 🌡️ 59°F | ⛅ Partly Sunny | 🌧️ 4% | 💨 SSW 3 to 7 mph

Saturday: 76°F 🌡️ 57°F | ☀️ Sunny | 🌧️ 3% | 💨 SSW 3 to 7 mph

Sunday: 74°F 🌡️ 56°F | 🌤️ Mostly Sunny | 🌧️ 7% | 💨 S 5 to 8 mph

Moon Phases

Events, Updates & News Around Town

Get off the Hamster Wheel

The Pickford on Grand Opens Tonight

Pickford Film Center is expanding! Today at 5:30 pm, the nonprofit cinema will open The Pickford on Grand, a new three-screen addition located at 105 Grand Avenue. The expansion increases the Pickford’s total to five independent screens—offering more room for festivals, first-run features, community events, and special programming. The project was funded through years of grassroots support, major donor contributions, and public grants.

To mark the occasion, Pickford is hosting an open house celebration. The evening will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by short films playing on each new screen. Guests are invited to tour the space, enjoy free popcorn, and purchase concessions including beer and wine. The event is free and open to the public.

The Pickford has served as a hub for independent film in the region since 1998, operating 365 days a year and offering programming unavailable elsewhere between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. In case you missed it, the Pickford is also now home to the full 22,000-title archive of Film Is Truth: 24 Times A Second, Bellingham’s former independent film rental store—now operating as an online catalog with rentals available for pickup at the Pickford lobby.

Silhouettes & Sound at the Lightcatcher

Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher building is hosting Silhouettes & Sound, a one-weekend-only pop-up exhibition opening today as part of Free First Friday. Created by artist Heather Dawn Sparks and the Femme Metal Collective, the show combines sculpture, shadow, and sound in an immersive installation.

Interact with large-scale metal and paper cutouts, cast your own shadow in the Shadow Sail Theatre, and experience live DJ sets from Radiant Heat and Lotus Drops between 6 and 8:30 p.m.

Admission to Silhouettes & Sound is free today from noon to 8:30 pm and the exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, August 3. Today only, show your Free First Friday sticker and receive $1 off a drink at the Wild Buffalo during The Loop Tour with bad tuner and Gilligan Moss.

In other news…

🐶 Okay, there’s just something about these stocky little pit-mixes. 😍 I can’t help it. 👇️ 

This is Peaches. She’s being cared for by the folks at Rescued Hearts Northwest (RHN), a nonprofit organization that rescues animals in need, places them into a foster home program for care and rehabilitation, and through a screening process, place them in permanent, loving homes.

RHN says “Peaches is the sweetest girl. She loves “hoomans” big and small, walks, car rides, long naps, stuffed toys, cuddling, yummy treats, especially veggies, is a matter of fact Peaches might even consider herself a vegetarian. Peaches is an eight year old, short and stocky sixty plus pound certified Couch Hippo with a medium to low energy level. We have yet to find something she doesn’t love. Well, except cats. Peaches has lived with other dogs but would be just as happy being an only dog. Peaches is spayed, up to date on all her vaccines and located in Bellingham WA.“ Looking for a pup? Fill out the application and meet Peaches.

👮‍♂️ The Lummi Indian Business Council (Lummi Nation) has setup a donation fund, through the Lhaq’temish Foundation, for the Lummi Nation police officer who was shot multiple times during a traffic incident on Monday. Make a Donation.

🐌 Shellfish harvest closures are growing! The Washington State Department of Health has announced additional closed shorelines extending into Skagit Bay. Many beaches are now closed during this warm summer weather so be sure to check the state Shellfish Safety map before planning any marine foraging.

Garage & Estate Sales

Your Source For Vintage Can Openers

8125 Birch Bay Square #208 (Fri, Sat, 9 am; Sun 10 am)
This weekend is the Snip Snip Hooray’s Not Your Average Garage Sale. 6,000 square feet overflowing with everything you can imagine. All proceeds go directly to Snip Snip Hooray, who provides financial assistance to low-income Whatcom County residents to get their pets spayed/neutered. map

• 2204 G St., Sat 9 am, map

• 6631 Guide Meridian, Fri, Sat 9 am, map

• 903 13th Street, Fri, Sat, Sun 10 am, map

• 207 E Sunrise Dr, Fri, Sat, 9 am, map

• 509 Baker Street, 9 am, map

• 1200 Lincoln St Unit 432, Fri, 10 am, map

• 7247 Everett Rd, Sat, Sun, 9 am, map

• 7962 W. Golf Course Drive, Sat, 8 am, map

• Latitude 49 Resort Park Community Garage Sale, Sat 8 am, map

• Sea Links Community Garage Sale, Sat 8 am, map

• 2629 Pacific Street, Sat, 9 am, map

• 1719 32nd St, Sat, 10 am, map

Bellingham Dockside Market

Seafood From The Salish Sea

The Bellingham Dockside Market is open tomorrow (Saturday), from 10 AM to 2PM at GATE 5 in Squalicum Harbor.

FRESH AT DOCKSIDE

DJ Fish Co
💙(Fresh) King salmon, 💙(Fresh) Pink Salmon, 💙(Fresh) Salmon Roe Skeins

Drayton Harbor Oyster Co
💙(Fresh) Pacific oysters, 💙(Fresh) Taylor Shellfish clams and mussels

Fish Fed Foods
💙(Fresh) Veggies

Fifth Generation Fisheries
💙(Fresh) Troll-caught WA King Salmon, 💙(Fresh) Troll-caught WA Coho Salmon

Sound Leader Seafoods
💙(Fresh) Whole Black Cod, 💙(Fresh) Black Cod Collars, 💙(Fresh) Whole Rockfish, 💙(Fresh) Petrale Sole, 💙(Fresh) Whole Dover Sole, 💙(Fresh) Whole Lingcod, 💙(Fresh) Whole Pacific Cod, 💙(Fresh) Whole Halibut

Lummi Seafood Market
💙(Fresh) Local King Salmon Fillets & Whole, 💙(Fresh) Live Dungeness crab

Sea to Shore Seafood Co.
💙(Fresh) Alaskan sockeye

LUNCH AT DOCKSIDE

Drayton Harbor Oyster Co
Grilled Oysters! There’s nothing better 🦪🦪!!

It's the Sweet Things
Bellingham’s own It's the Sweet Things will serve Smoked Salmon Pastries, Dungeness Crab Pastries, Smoked Salmon Spread, and more!

Seashells Coffee Co
Hot coffee and tea beverages, Iced coffee, Lotus, Italian sodas, smoothies, and specialty drinks.

Food & Drink

Hamsters Gotta Eat

Because it’s fun to be a lookie-loo

Crash an Open House

61 Windward Drive (Open Sat 11-2 pm)
Sometimes shingled siding is a tough mix with stone façades. Not in this case. Lovely! The colors are warm and creamy against the backdrop of green cedar forest. If this home was a smell it would be caramel cappuccino. 😁 Listing.

4749 Chuckanut Drive (Open Sat, Sun 12-2 pm)
This house is ADORABLE!! And somehow this sweet cottage front is hiding a 2000+ square foot beauty. Open fields of the north Skagit valley open in all directions. Bird watching paradise. 🦅 Listing.

Performance Arts This Week

Dance of The Hamsters

LIVE ARTS & FILM

Mount Baker Theatre
Missoula Children's Theatre: Princess and the Pea | Fri 5:30 pm, Sat 11:30 am

New Prospect Theatre
Mary’s Wedding | Fri-Sun 7:30 pm

Bellingham TheatreWorks
The Grown-ups | Thurs, Fri 6:30 pm

iDiOM Theater
A Tourist's Guide to the End of Magic | Fri, Sat 7:30 pm

Boulevard Park Stage - BAAY
As You Like It | Sun 1pm

The Upfront Theatre
Various performances.

PARTICIPATORY DANCE

Sunset Silent Disco - Zuanich - Sat 7:30 pm
Salsa Collective - The Majestic - Sun 5:30 pm
Open Floor Movement - Presence Studio - Sun 10:30 am

Events & Nightlife

Spinning Into The Night

Feature an Event. Reach out.

FEATURED

I can’t pass up an oyster event! 🦪 This one’s at Hela Provisions, the cutest specialty grocery located on the water-facing side of the Granary Building. They will be serving 3 different styles of sparkling wine (by the glass), including a non-alcoholic option, and it includes a free Queen Tide Oyster raw bar with a limit of two per customer. Oysters are from 4 to 7 pm today, August 1st, but they make fab sandwiches so go early for lunch.

The Maple Falls Park Bigfoot Festival is back on Saturday, August 2, celebrating all things Sasquatch with a day full of fun, food, and music! Kicking off at 9 am, the festival features 60+ local vendors, live performances by Joshua Red Uttech & Friends and Nobody’s Peach, a beer garden, and classic “Biggie” root beer floats. Enjoy eats from Cicchitti’s Pizza, Mix Masala, The Bean Water, and brews from Stones Throw Brewery. The mystery’s alive in Maple Falls.

Whatcom Wav is a local music festival dedicated to amplifying the voices, experiences, and ideas of local youth. Today, August 1st is day one of the two day festival, with the second day falling on August 8th. Today’s lineup includes Trillium, Surreal, Radium, Moth Garden, and Back To The Loud. First band goes live at 6:20 on the Fairhaven Village Green. 

FRIDAY

FerndAle Block Party, Fringe Brewing - All the fun block party stuff, and free for the whole family! Featuring all ages entertainment & music all day, vendors, food trucks, craft beer & local cider. Lots of free activities and giveaways for kids. More info.

Light and Shadow: Contemporary Landscape Photography, Allied Arts Of Whatcom County - The opening reception is from 6 to 9 pm. "Light & Shadow" showcases works that go beyond mere documentation to evoke deep emotional responses, featuring images with a meditative quality that speaks to viewers regardless of their usual artistic preferences. Featuring artists Alan Sanders, Brett Baunton, Lance Ekhart, and John D’Onofrio. Opening night music by Swil Kanim and community art project led by Deb McCunn.

Friday Music & Trivia →

SATURDAY

Acid Ball Psych Rock Music Fest, Trackside Beer Garden - Five killer bands, a mesmerizing liquid light show, live painting, circus performances, Kulshan beers, corn dogs, hot dogs, and a community-driven vibe. The lineup features Levitation Room, The Grizzled Mighty, Biblioteka, Zookraught & General Mojo's. 5 pm to 11 pm.

Jansen Jazz Orchestra, Jansen Art Center - Look forward to the classics of jazz as well as the latest original tunes. Jansen Jazz Orchestra is about having fun! Tickets.

Drayton Harbor Pirate Festival, Blaine Marine Park - Gather your crew and prepare for a day filled with pirate-themed adventure and seaside festivities, with live music, great food, craft vendors, kids’ games, a mermaid appearance, the "Pirates of Penzance" play, and a pirate costume contest. Dress up and enjoy the seaside adventure from 10 am to 5 pm!

Saturday Music & Trivia →

SUNDAY

Shakespeare in the Park, Boulevard Park Stage - Bellingham Arts Academy for Youth (BAAY) presents As You Like It, performed by students ages 13-17. This pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncle’s court. Pack a picnic, the show begins at 1pm.

Imports & Classics-Waterfront Car Show, 298 W Laurel St - Imports & Classics is a passionate group of enthusiasts, bringing together Classic Cars and JDM Cars — and everyone in between! This show is open to all makes and models, including Classics, JDM, Exotics, and high-performance rides. Starts at 11 am.

Sunday Music & Trivia →

Advertise in the #1 Newsletter in the Ham 
Want to include a note in the Wheel? Let’s Chat.

Hakuna matata

To All Our Readers

Thanks for reading today’s edition. If you found something helpful, please share it with a friend and encourage them to click here to subscribe 🙏.

You can reply to this email if you have something we should know about or want to send us a love note.

Have a great weekend!!