Blaine's Holiday Season Runs Between Two Art Walks on Peace Portal Drive

"Shop local. Enjoy live music. Sip something warm. Stroll the lights. Celebrate the season by the sea." That line comes from the Blaine Harbor Music Festival, which is promoting its December night market. This year, "shop local" is literally where the customers are coming from.

Downtown Blaine's holiday season this year starts with the free 2nd Saturday Art Walk this Saturday, November 14, and ends with the next one on December 12. Between them come Holiday Harbor Lights and a two-night market along the waterfront. Local groups run each of these events: the Blaine Arts Council, the park and recreation district, the Friends of the Blaine Library and the music festival. This year the people they are drawing are mostly people who live within a short drive.

Why the Calendar Matters More This Year

Peace Portal Drive has always had two audiences: the town and the traffic coming south from British Columbia. The second group has gotten much smaller. The Whatcom Business Journal reported in October that southbound B.C.-plated vehicle crossings fell about 36% in 2025 compared with 2024. From January through August 2026, there were roughly 580,000 fewer crossings than in the same months of 2024. Looking at August alone, Cascadia Daily News reported about 110,000 fewer B.C. vehicles entering Whatcom County than in August 2024, a 45% drop.

The kind of trip has changed too. According to the same crossing data, travelers who still come south have shifted away from shopping and buying gas and toward recreation and family visits. That matters on a street lined with shops and restaurants.

In the spring, a survey by Western Washington University's Border Policy Research Institute and the Bellingham Regional Chamber of Commerce collected responses from 62 Whatcom County business operators. The authors call it a descriptive, non-random sample. Respondents in Blaine averaged 4.5 out of 5 for damage from fewer Canadian visitors, the highest of any town on the list. Ferndale averaged 3.5 and Lynden 3.0. Of the Blaine respondents, 54% had already changed how they operate. One change happened right on the waterfront. Drayton Harbor Oyster Co. began advertising more in Birch Bay and Bellingham to reach people in the region.

What Changed on the Street Since Last Winter

Two Peace Portal storefronts went through a full cycle this year. Harbor House, a home décor and staging boutique at 838 Peace Portal Drive, opened over the winter. The Northern Light profiled it in March. The city's Blaine by the Sea shopping directory now lists it as closed as of August 24, 2026.

A week later, on August 31, the Railway Cafe at 795 Peace Portal Drive served its last breakfast. Cascadia Daily News reported that the cafe had been inside a 1921 caboose that started out as a gift shop and became a cafe in 2009. Co-owners Vicka and Rodney Haywood had run it since 2018 and were moving to the East Coast to be closer to family.

The Plover is also off the winter calendar. Its 2026 season, which departed from Gate 2 at the Blaine Boating Center on Marine Drive, is over. The Northern Light reported that the city expects to decide the ferry's longer-term future in 2027. So for the next month, downtown's evening schedule comes down to four events.

The Four Events, in Order

1. Saturday, November 14, 4 to 6:30 p.m.: 2nd Saturday Art Walk. Free.
2. Saturday, November 28, all day: Blaine Holiday Harbor Lights. The tree lighting is at 4:50 p.m. on G Street Plaza.
3. Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5, 4 to 9:30 p.m.: 3rd Annual Blaine Night Market & Luminary Walk.
4. Saturday, December 12, 4 to 6:30 p.m.: 2nd Saturday Art Walk. Free.

November 14: The Gallery End of Peace Portal

According to the Blaine Chamber's listing, the Art Walk starts at Blaine Art Gallery, 922 Peace Portal Drive, and continues to Blind Bird Art Studio at 264 H Street. Along the way, members' artwork hangs on the walls of downtown businesses. The Blaine Arts Council runs the gallery. It shows rotating work by local and regional artists and has a sculpture garden. Blind Bird Art Studio & Gallery, in Suite B at 264 H Street, is a working open studio featuring local artists. It is open by appointment and on Second Saturdays, which makes the Art Walk the easiest time to stop in. Living.Pantry.Marketplace is next door in Suite A.

The walk ends at 6:30, so you can walk south along Peace Portal for dinner afterward.

November 28: Harbor Lights Lands on Thanksgiving Weekend

Holiday Harbor Lights falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving this year. Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 presents it with support from the City of Blaine. Here is the schedule from the Blaine by the Sea listing:

• 1 to 5 p.m.: horse-drawn carriage rides
• 2 to 6 p.m.: visits with Santa
• 3 p.m.: live music
• 4:50 p.m.: community tree lighting on G Street Plaza

The city describes G Street Plaza as a public gathering space at the end of G Street, next to Peace Portal Drive, with seating and views across Drayton Harbor to White Rock.

The library's day starts earlier. The Friends of the Blaine Library Holiday Book Sale runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Blaine Library Meeting Room as part of the Harbor Lights festivities. If you go to the book sale in the morning and the carriage rides in the afternoon, you can spend the whole day downtown without driving anywhere.

December 4 and 5: Two Nights, Based at the Library

The Night Market & Luminary Walk is the biggest event of the four. It runs both evenings from 4 to 9:30 p.m., and its listing names the Blaine Public Library at 610 3rd Street as its location. The event page lists artisan and craft makers, local artists, specialty food and holiday gift vendors, and participating downtown businesses. Food trucks will serve dinner and warm drinks. Veronica North headlines Friday and SpaveBand headlines Saturday, with other bands and choirs playing both nights. The luminary walk follows the waterfront.

All proceeds go to the Blaine Harbor Music Festival, and the market supports the festival's 25th anniversary season and its Musicians Camp.

Teens get their own event on Friday. The library holds Blaine Gift Making for Teens from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Blaine Meeting Room. Teens can make gifts in the meeting room while the market goes on outside.

December 12: The Art Walk Again

The December Art Walk follows the same route at the same hours, 4 to 6:30 p.m., starting from 922 Peace Portal Drive. It is the last scheduled downtown evening before the holidays and the last chance this year to stop in at Blind Bird outside of appointment hours.

Where to Eat Between Stops

The Art Walks wrap up at 6:30 p.m. and the tree lighting happens at 4:50 p.m., so those evenings end right around dinner. The Night Market runs until 9:30 p.m. with food trucks, but downtown restaurants are an option on those nights too. The city's 2026 downtown restaurant map and the Blaine by the Sea dining directory list these Peace Portal options near the event route:

• Near G Street Plaza for the tree lighting: The Vault Wine Bar & Bistro at 277 G Street, Drayton Harbor Oyster Company at 685 Peace Portal Drive, Monte's Just A Bite at 679 and Aloha Cafe at 684.
• Toward the gallery end: Chada Thai at 825 Peace Portal Drive, Paso del Norte at 758, The Wheelhouse Sports Bar & Grill at 746 and Bordertown Pizza at 738.
• In the middle blocks: Ttowa Sushi at 658 Peace Portal Drive, which the Bellingham Herald reported open in June 2025, and Black Forest Steakhouse at 638.
• At the south end: L&L Bakery at 477 Peace Portal Drive, plus Gateway 1890 Taphouse & Grill and Smuggler's Tunnel Speakeasy, which share the 429 address.

Winter hours can change, so check before you head out, especially on November 28 when the carriage rides and the tree lighting will bring a crowd downtown in the late afternoon.

Drayton Harbor Oyster Company is near the middle of this list, close to the plaza where the tree will be lit. It is also the business that chose this year to advertise to people from Birch Bay and Bellingham. Lighting the tree, the five evenings on Peace Portal and the market's proceeds for the music festival are all organized by Blaine groups for the people who live nearby.

If the changes along Peace Portal this year have you thinking about what downtown Blaine's storefronts and streets mean for your own plans, I'm happy to talk them through. Christine Cicchitti has worked in Whatcom County since 2005. Call or email Christine for a free local market consult and personalized next steps.