By Hayleigh Tramm May 17, 2024 7:07 am
BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – The Downtown Bellingham Partnership (DBP) hosted the 10th annual Spring Wine Walk in downtown Bellingham last weekend, providing a unique opportunity to explore downtown while tasting from wineries all across the state.
The DBP worked with Seattle Uncorked to coordinate with wineries to host tasting rooms. With 19 wineries to taste from, participants were given 10 tasting tickets and encouraged to try a wide range of flavors. The wine walk brought crowds of people downtown as people explored the local businesses both sipping and shopping.
These wine walk events take place in Bellingham twice a year in the spring and fall. As the weather gets warmer, Bellingham locals are eager to get out and about; the Spring Wine Walk works to invite people back into the community after the colder months.
Natalie Wagler, the Community Engagement Manager with the DBP receives lots of feedback as locals discover new places downtown.
“We do surveys after every event, and we always hear that people learn about a new business that they’ve never been into before, and I think that’s always cool – to welcome people into our community,” Wagler said.
The DBP has invested their resources in the health and vitality of the downtown neighborhood and is always working to improve the local community. In 2024, Bellingham residents have noticed a change in the downtown area after Mayor Kim Lund’s executive order took place in January.
“We do small business support, economic development, marketing and promotions. It’s a wide range that this event is an example of, even though this event is a fundraiser for us which is really special, it also brings a lot of visibility to our downtown realtors as a sip and shop event,” Wagler said.
Breanne Green, owner of this year’s title sponsor Greenhouse, worked closely with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership and other sponsors to make the event as special as possible. Green mentioned how she hopes to improve downtown and has noticed continued support from Bellingham residents to keep the downtown area alive.
“You see it in the streets even if you don’t have tickets, you should probably come down and shop because you can feel the energy,” Green said.
The next DBP Wine Walk will be later this year in the fall. For more information on all of the events the DBP offers, head to their website.