Bellingham’s Downtown Sounds ‘disheartened’ but ‘determined’ after bomb threat Wednesday
A bomb threat shut down the “Downtown Sounds” live music event Wednesday evening, Aug. 4, according to Bellingham Police Lt. Claudia Murphy in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
The Pulse Point app noted a bomb threat downtown at 121 W. Prospect St. at 8:22 p.m.
“We received a call of a bomb threat sufficiently credible that we began an evacuation of a one-block area in our downtown core,” Murphy said.
The Downtown Bellingham Partnership event was planned for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Bay and Prospect streets.
“Our officers were able to get folks evacuated and BPD Hazardous Devices Techs arrived to search the scene with Explosive Detection K9 Raven. No device was found and by approximately 9:40 p.m. the area was opened up again,” she said.
With the event featuring Nite Wave with Analog Brass scheduled to be over by 9 p.m., the event did not resume.
Wednesday marked the first time the Downtown Bellingham Partnership hosted the event in 2021 after COVID-19 forced the summer concert series to go virtual in 2020 to raise funds for local music venues impacted by the pandemic.
The event was requiring face coverings for unvaccinated attendees and encouraged everyone to wear them during crowded outdoor events. Holly Street was also closed to traffic to allow “extra room to spread out and enjoy the music,” according to a Downtown Bellingham Facebook post.
“We are incredibly disheartened about the bomb threat that occurred during the first night of the Downtown Sounds music series,” Downtown Bellingham Partnership Executive Director Alice Clark told The Bellingham Herald in an email Thursday. “We were so proud and excited to bring a sense of normalcy and joy to our community by making the event happen this year, so having the threat happen and asking everyone to leave mid-way through the night was both scary and incredibly disappointing.
“That said, we’re determined to continue with the series and we look forward to bringing more music and celebration to the streets next week. We want to thank everyone for their support – it means a lot to us.”
A number of social media posts at the time from people who were at the event said the evacuation was swift but people remained relatively calm. Some concertgoers who evacuated to Waypoint Park even took the opportunity to grab a beer at the Kulshan Trackside Beer Garden or go swimming, according to some posts.
“We were all vibing to a great ‘80s band at Bellingham at Downtown Sounds when they stopped the concert and told us all to evacuate immediately. Such a great night wrecked by some idiot. Run it back next week Bham!” one person posted on Twitter.
Another person who tweeted they were volunteering at Downtown Sounds called the bomb threat “scary,” but added they were thankful that the Bellingham Police Department “was quickly on the scene and managing the situation.”
The Bellingham Herald asked the Bellingham Police Department for updated information Thursday morning.
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 10:26 PM.
