Best Bets: Children's Gallery Walk

Dixon Livingston, 8, right, a second-grader at Birchwood Elementary, holds up his silk painting that he created with Allied Arts education project artist Donna Wheat in Denise Binderup’s class. His artwork will be among the dozens of pieces created by local elementary-school artists displayed during the seventh annual Children’s Gallery Walk at more than 45 downtown Bellingham venues from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 4. A public reception, with performances in theater, dance and music, is at 6 p.m. in the Whatcom Museum of History & Art’s Rotunda Room, 121 Prospect St., and entertainment is provided by young musicians at 7 p.m. at Mount Baker Studio Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. Hands-on activities and refreshments are offered at some venues. Call 527-8710 or 676-8548 or go to www.downtownbellingham for more information.

Alethea Alexander is one of the performers in the Northwest Dance Festival, onstage at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, at Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St. The Northwest Ballet Theatre, under the direction of John Bishop, presents its inaugural dance festival, which features a new ballet to the music of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Tickets range from $15 to $25, with discounts for children and seniors; and are available at the theater ticket office, 734-6080 and online at www.mountbakerthe atre.org. For more on the dance company, visit www.northwestballet.org. The performance is repeated at 7:30 p.m. May 12 at McIntyre Hall on the Skagit Valley College campus in Mount Vernon.

Portland, Ore.-based indie-pop band The Decemberists performs in support of their latest album, “The Crane Wife,” in an outdoor concert at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 5, at Western Washington University’s Red Square. Admission is $25 general, $18 WWU students. For more on the performance, call Associated Students Pop Music, 650-2846. For more on the band, go to www.decemberists.com.

Bellingham artist Dale Gottlieb’s “Oh, Morpheus, Where Art Thou?” is one of the works on display at Lucia Douglas Gallery, 1415 13th St. Also exhibited through May 26 are photographs by her brother, Martin Gottlieb, and figurative ceramics by Whatcom Community College instructor Rob Beishline. The exhibit opens with a public reception for the artists from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 5. For information, call 733-5361 or go to www.luciadouglas.com.

Ruth Posthuma, Susan Duncan, Celeste Larson, Bonnie Hollingsworth and Chelsea Lindquist are the Little Sisters of Hoboken in “Nunsense II,” in which the nuns stage a “thank you program” for their supporters for the previous show (see the original “Nunsense” for details). Lynden Performing Arts Guild stages this humorous, family-friendly play, which features such numbers as “We’re the Nuns to Come to When You Go,” “What Would Elvis Do?” and “There’s Only One Way to End Your Prayers,” at 7:30 p.m. tonight through Saturday, May 3-5, continuing May 10-12, 17-19 and 24-26, and at 2 p.m. May 13, 19 and 26 at the Claire vg Thomas Theatre in Dutch Village Mall, 655 Front St. Tickets are $12 adults, $10 students and seniors, available by calling 354-4425 and in person at Marin Rose in the mall. Mary Katherine Nicholson directs.

The Pacific Arts Association presents a screening of German filmmaker Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s 1926 silent film, “Faust,” based on the writings of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 5, at Blaine Performing Arts Center, 975 H St. The film will be accompanied by live music composed by Daniel Schnyder, performed by Schnyder on soprano and tenor saxophone, Kenny Drew Jr. on piano and David Taylor on bass trombone. Tickets are $20 adults, $10 students and seniors, $25 priority seating, and are available at Village Books, Blaine Visitors Center, by calling 332-6484, and online at www.pacificartsassoc.org.

Only during a Procession of the Species can a fish and frog have a friendly chat. Gemma Hall-Hart (left) and Carol Oberton, both of Bellingham, were two of the hundreds who dressed up as a creature and paraded through downtown Bellingham in 2004. This year’s event begins at 5 p.m. (sharp!) Saturday, May 5, in front of City Hall, 210 Lottie St., parades through downtown, and ends with a celebration at Maritime Heritage Park. Anyone can join the parade, which celebrates our community creativity and our connection with nature. No live animals, motorized vehicles or written words are allowed. Costumes are highly encouraged. For information, call 738-7308 or 676-6985.