BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – For over 20 years, breweries from around northwest Washington have come together to raise money for a local Bellingham non-profit.

April Brews Day, known to many as a day dedicated to drinking beer for a good cause, is celebrating its 23rd year on April 27. After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team behind April Brews Day brought the event back in 2023 with a new location and new attitude.

Founded in 2001 by the board of directors at the Max Higbee Center, April Brews Day serves as the primary source of funding for the Bellingham-based nonprofit.

“The center really needed funding,” Kait Whiteside said, executive director at the Max Higbee Center. “The board was scrambling to find a revenue source they could depend on year after year, and that’s where April Brews Day came from.”

For more than 40 years, the Max Higbee Center has provided people with developmental disabilities resources, opportunities and recreation in Whatcom County. The nonprofit was named after its founder Max Higbee, who helped the organization become a recognized nonprofit in 1984.

During the first April Brews Day, seven regional breweries poured beer at the event with a couple hundred tickets sold. At this year’s event, over 65 pacific northwest breweries will be in attendance to serve the over 4,000 people expected to arrive.

During her time at the Max Higbee Center, Whiteside has watched as both the center and the annual April Brews Day event has evolved over the last decade. Due to the pandemic putting the event on pause for a few years, the team behind April Brews Day was able to rethink the annual fundraising event and come back with an all-new perspective of what the event could look like.

“We had an opportunity to restructure how we plan April Brews Day, and honestly improve and grow it with the new location down by the waterfront,” Whiteside said.

At this year’s event, attendees can expect an array of beer, live music and even a silent disco throughout the evening.

Playing on the concert stage this year is Seattle-based neo-funk band Hard Maybe and R&B band Heavy Bloom. Accompanying them is a group called Out of the Ashes which is comprised by a collective of Max Higbee Center members.

Katie Gray, event planner for April Brews Day, mentioned how aside from all of the beer and live music, a silent disco and a new “Zen Den” provides a new way for event attendees to enjoy their time there.

“Accessibility is obviously a huge part of this event,” Gray said. “One of the things we are going to provide is a ‘Zen Den’ in the event that you are overwhelmed or need a break from the sensory of being around thousands of people. It’s a place for just a break.”

As for the beer side of the event, over 65 breweries from around the region will be pouring beer at the waterfront. Bellingham’s oldest brewery and April Brews Day flagship brewery Boundary Bay Brewery will be in attendance for the 23rd year in a row. This year, they are bringing back their “Ginger Peach Blonde” which is a special beer just for April Brews Day.

“We will be pouring out of a BeerStream Trailer this year that you will have to see to believe,” Boundary Bay Brewery general manager Janet Lightner said.

Other notable breweries that will have beer at the event are Kulshan Brewing Company, Aslan Brewing Company, The North Fork Brewery and Fringe Brewing.

“April Brews Day is such a Bellingham-centric event where there’s craft beer in a scenic setting by the waterfront and it’s in support of a nonprofit,” Whiteside said. “Without April Brews Day, I think it would be difficult to continue to grow and meet the overwhelming community need for services for folks with developmental disabilities.”

Tickets are almost sold out for this year’s April Brews Day, any remaining tickets are available at the April Brews Day website.