This is an amazing beer lovers event. Bellinghamsters come out in force, so arrive early. The lines to get tickets and get in the day of the event are super long. It is worth it to buy the VIP pass online to avoid the wait. Plus, you get early entry before the masses which gives you immediate access to each vendor without the long lines. You buy a 4oz cup for $4 upon arrival. Brewers from out of town, out of state and even locals will sell you a taste of their special crafts for a $1. It is worth it to try the local breweries too. Boundary Bay had special concoctions that were only available at this event, and they turned out to be very unique and tasty. Don't forget your state identification to prove you are 21+, and cash to buy drinks and those amazing pretzel necklaces. It's highly recommended you arrange a ride home in advance with a service like Uber, Wheels & Wines, or a cab. With so much good brew to enjoy, you are guaranteed to be in no condition to get behind the wheel. A live band played throughout the night. Yelp had a fun "selfie booth" that was a hit with groups wanting a picture on their phone to mark the occasion. I only wish this event happened more than once a year. read more

April Brews Day - Yelp Selfie Station - Festivals Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham biggest and baddest beer festival just keeps getting better. And this year they made it even more fabulous by concentrating not only on getting a lot of people in the gates, but by making sure we had fun once we were inside. The variety of beers and ciders available was absolutely amazing. Everything from local breweries to beers from far away were featured. There were two music stages, a game area, several amazing food trucks, and other nice touches such as plenty of bathroom facilities. I had a wonderful afternoon, and it's definitely the place to see and be seen at the end of Bellingham Beer Week. If you go here and don't run into anyone you know you clearly aren't from Bellingham. read more

So much fun. Trying out different local (and some not-so-local) brews while hanging out in our gorgeous weather we had and seeing pretty much everyone I know in Bellingham? Yes please. Couldn't think of a better way I would want to kick off my summer than with this. It's my first time going, and I will definitely keep it on my radar for next year! One complaint: there were way too many people. But that's what to expect with a great event like this. Was extremely well-organized and I never felt unsafe with the amount of security and police that were patrolling. read more

April Brews Day - Festivals Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

What a blast! I've been to many of these types of events, but nothing compares to the Bellingham vibe of go with the flow... Or, go with the tap! When you get to drag your friends to your favorites and it's a bit like herding cats through a crowd, you know the breweries are worth it! This year was a beautiful sunny day, and many kegs were blown. Many many. You get 7 drink tickets with VIP access and get in an hour early. I will say I thought it wouldn't make a huge difference since 500 people were VIP, but that first hour is when I learned the most about the Brewers and the beers they made. That, and didn't have any crowd anxiety because I could actually breathe, move, and lines didn't exist! The layout was perfect, the fact you can get extra drink tickets for $1 made the angst of trying only 7 of the many go away. The Yelp selfie station was hilarious and a favorite of the crowd, and well, just an awesome event it was! Next year I'll definitely be back. I'll do VIP. I'll use my drink tickets and some extras. But I'll probably leave before it comes a theme that no one can walk straight, everyone's fighting over drink tickets and talking about tapped out kegs, Street food is being fed like momma bird to baby birds, and every five minutes there's a loud crash, sound of breaking glass and boos from the crowd as yet another glass goes kaboom. Other than that, good times! read more

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A Bellingham MUST. Bring friends and prepare to really have a blast. Besides the initial wait in line (get there waaaay early!), I definitely loved every second of chatting with local breweries, trying delectable brews, eating heavenly food truck grub and chatting with everyone. Be prepared to park far away, and have someone on hand to drive you back. Safety is sexy! read more

April Brews Day - The VIP Crowd waiting - Festivals Near Me - Bellingham, Washington

I cannot believe the ridiculous line and amount of people for this event! Honestly, I probably wouldn't have bought my ticket if I had known just how many total tickets were sold. However, I'm amazed at how quickly the line moved and by the organization of everything. So many beers and ciders! I'm a cider drinker and was so pleased with the number of different ciders available. I used 6/8 drink tickets and gave away the last 2. 6 drinks was more than enough. Food trucks were on site. I was disappointed to notice only one accepting tickets for food. Great music and plenty of portable toilets. The crowd was typical, rude and generally oblivious to the existence of others. But that's pretty normal. Nothing to do with the event itself. If you're a beer or cider drinker or new in town, go at least once. It's with the price of admission and benefits the Max Higbee Center. read more

Short version: not impressed. Long version: hailing from Seattle and having been to these types of events before, there were several areas for improvement. First, the organization... although tickets were supposed to still be available, per their facebook page, we arrived to find tickets were sold out. This should have been communicated more clearly. Second, the venu was entirely too small for the number of people in attendance. I could barely move to find my next brew due to the massive amounts of people packed into a too-small-of-a-space. I quickly got my fills and got the hell out. I found a sweet irish pub that was practically empty and finished out the night. I will not be back and will stick closer to home. read more

April Brews Day is Bellingham's penultimate beer drinking event (apologies to Bellingham Beer Week, but this is our most impressive one-day festival). Beers from over 50 vendors all happily pouring our favorite brews. Heavily skewed towards local breweries, but there were beers from up and down the I-5 corridor as far away as San Diego. If you go to only one Whatcom County beer event per year (but why would you do that) this is definitely the one to go to. Quick hint: the VIP ticket gets you in an hour early and comes with extra pours. I was also blown away by how organized they were and how quickly the ID and check-in process was handled. read more

If you want to experience the brews of the PNW, this is the place. Entry includes a small glass and fills are $1 each. There is also a selection of local food carts on site to make sure that you aren't beering it up on an empty stomach. Since this festival is held where the farmers market takes place, it is a bit cramped considering the scope of the event. Lines can be long but in all honesty, it's well worth the wait. read more

I wouldn't go back to this due to poor organization, overcrowding, and a selection not much better than any other festival you can attend. The venue was too small and it was hard to navigate from place to place. Similar events like Bacon, Eggs, and Kegs have plenty of space to navigate and better traffic flow. It shouldn't be so challenging to get from place to place if organized appropriately or in an appropriate sized venue. The staff weren't good information resources, and nobody really seemed to know what was going on. It really wasn't worth driving to Bellingham because it wasn't anything special compared to other similar events. read more