With COVID restrictions loosening, Lynden fairgrounds announce weekend concert series
Nearly a year after COVID-19 restrictions began changing the lives of every Whatcom County resident, the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in Lynden announced it will host a pair of weekend events with its Phase 2 Concert Series.
Chief Executive Officer Chris Pickering said he hopes the concerts Friday and Saturday, March 5 and 6, are just the first steps of reminding Whatcom County how to have fun again.
“This is where we are — we’re taking some nice baby steps,” Pickering told The Bellingham Herald. “We’re not trying to jump straight into hosting a 20,000-people-a-day Fair.”
Instead, the Fairgrounds will host no more than 200 people each night in a pair of concerts — Southbound from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday night and the J.P. Falcon Grady Band from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday night — in the Farm Pavilion.
“Celebrate Phase 2 with a LIVE concert! Grab a drink, enjoy some BBQ, and dance in your seat because hey, it’s still COVID,” the event descriptions on the Fairgrounds’ website says.
Pickering said the allowable capacity in the pavilion is just shy of 1,200 people, so the events will meet the state’s guidelines of 25% capacity or a maximum of 200 people, whichever is less.
Everyone will be required to wear a mask except when they are eating or drinking, and the event will use pod-style seating, Pickering said, similar to what has been used in Europe. Each pod will be limited to six people at a picnic table, and groups will not be mixed at the same table if they have fewer than six people.
The tables will be spaced throughout the pavilion, similar to the way restaurant tables are spaced out, Pickering said, and the band will be 20 feet away from the first row of tables.
Pickering said the facility has installed hand sanitizer signage to encourage guidelines be followed. Additionally, event organizers will strictly limit the event to two hours, take a full day to thoroughly clean and sanitize the facility, rather than the state-mandated 30-minute turnover, and keep contact information for attendees in case contact tracing is needed.
“We don’t anticipate we’re going to need that,” Pickering said.
The Whatcom County Health Department is aware of the Fairgrounds’ weekend concert plans.
“The concert organizers reached out to us to let us know they would be having a concert and adhering to all Phase 2 requirements,” the health department told The Herald in an email. “Live entertainment is currently permitted but must follow the Live Entertainment Guide. Event organizers are not required to submit plans or receive approval before hosting an event. They (event organizers) declined our offer to review their plans.”
Pickering said the Fairgrounds is uniquely situated to hold entertainment events, such as this weekend’s concerts.
“We’ll have food, so we already have two sets of guidelines we’ll be following — the state’s COVID guidelines and those for food safety,” Pickering said. “Plus we’ve been following safety guidelines for more than a century with livestock and keeping facilities clean and safe for large crowds. Even before COVID, we were ahead of the game on cleanliness, and we’ve followed all guidelines.”
The Fairgrounds also worked to achieve Global Biorisk Advisory Council STAR accreditation, Pickering said, implementing stringent protocols for cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention in facilities. Among the regional facilities to earn the accreditation are BC Palace in Vancouver and the Eugene (Oregon) Airport, according to the council’s worldwide directory.
In the wake of iconic Whatcom County events such as the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Bellingham and Ski to Sea being canceled this spring, Pickering said he hopes the weekend concerts are just a start to a return to fun.
“We’ll see how the weekend goes and take it slow and learn lessons that need to be learned,” he told The Herald. “We might even to able to do some more shows and a BMX race outdoors later this year, and we’re still pushing full speed ahead with the Fair (Aug. 12-21). We’ve been in contact with policymakers and the health department, and it seems like we’ll get there.”
Mount Baker Theatre update
The Northwest Washington Fairgrounds is not the only entertainment facility in Whatcom County beginning to schedule events as the region attempts to return to some sense of normalcy.
The Mount Baker Theatre announced that it will begin showing movies this month as it attempts to transition to live performances by the late summer or early fall.
The theater is currently bringing in a new projector to show the movies, which are being planned for Fridays and Saturdays throughout the spring and summer, and on Tuesday it released more of its movie schedule:
▪ “The Greatest Showman,” 7 p.m. Friday, March 12.
▪ “Brave,” 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13.
▪ “Die Hard,” 7 p.m. Friday, March 19.
▪ “The Lion King,” 7 p.m. Saturday, March 20.
▪ “Slumdog Millionaire,” 7 p.m. Friday, March 26.
▪ “The Princess Bride,” 7 p.m. Saturday, March 27.
Tickets are $10.50 a piece and are sold in pairs and groups of four to promote social distancing among family groups, and shows are limited to 200 people.
Additionally, a live stream of “We Banjo 3” from Ireland will be shown at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 13, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, according to a release from the theater.
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
