If you want to settle an important question this July, mark your calendar for Saturday, July 25: who has the better barbecue game, the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office or North Whatcom Fire District 21? The Battle of the Badges is returning to Birch Bay, and residents are invited to show up, eat well, and serve as the judge.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Birch Bay Waterslides parking lot on Birch Bay-Lynden Road. The Sheriff's Office and Fire District 21 will compete in a cookout-style challenge, serving food to community members who come out to support their local first responders. Admission is free, and the food is the point. Bring your appetite and your family.
What the Battle of the Badges Is All About
The Battle of the Badges is a community event designed to do two things at once: raise a little money for a good cause and give Whatcom County residents a reason to spend an afternoon with the people who respond when things go wrong. It is a friendly competition in the truest sense, with both agencies trading good-natured trash talk about who runs the better grill.
North Whatcom Fire District 21, also known as North Whatcom Fire and Rescue, serves the Birch Bay and Blaine area communities of northern Whatcom County. The district covers roughly 70 square miles of coastline, farmland, and suburban neighborhoods along Birch Bay and the Canadian border corridor. It is one of several fire districts in the county that operate independently of Bellingham's city fire department.
The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office provides law enforcement services for unincorporated Whatcom County, which includes Birch Bay, Point Roberts, Birch Bay Village, and dozens of rural and coastal communities outside city limits. The agency handles everything from routine traffic enforcement to the kind of large-scale backcountry search operations that drew national attention this week with the recovery of missing hiker Steven Dorsett in the North Cascades.
Birch Bay in July: A Perfect Summer Setting
The choice of Birch Bay Waterslides as the venue is fitting. Birch Bay is one of Whatcom County's most popular summer destinations, drawing families from across the county and from British Columbia to its warm, shallow bay and beachfront parks. The Waterslides parking lot, a familiar landmark along the main beachfront corridor, can accommodate a large crowd and gives attendees easy access to the bay for an afternoon of beach time before or after the BBQ.
July is peak season in Birch Bay. The bay's protected waters warm significantly by midsummer, making it one of the few spots in northwestern Washington where swimming is genuinely pleasant. The surrounding area includes the Birch Bay State Park, several public beach accesses, and a boardwalk strip of shops and restaurants that fills up on summer weekends. The Battle of the Badges will fit naturally into an already lively July Saturday in the area.
The event is free to the public. Families, kids, and anyone curious about the work that sheriff's deputies and firefighters do are welcome. Both agencies use events like this one to build the kind of casual familiarity with community members that makes public safety partnerships work better. When people know their first responders as neighbors and not just as uniforms, the relationship between community and agency tends to be healthier on both sides.
How to Get There and What to Expect
The Birch Bay Waterslides are located at 4874 Birch Bay-Lynden Road in Birch Bay, roughly 20 miles north of downtown Bellingham via Interstate 5 and Grandview Road. Parking is available on-site. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, 2026.
Expect free food, informal conversation with deputies and firefighters, and the kind of low-key summer afternoon that Whatcom County does particularly well. Families with kids will find it an easy, enjoyable outing. The BBQ competition element means both teams have real motivation to perform, which bodes well for the quality of the food.
Similar community events are a staple of Whatcom County's summer calendar. The county's first responder agencies, from Bellingham Fire and BPD to the Sheriff's Office and the various fire districts across the county, regularly hold open houses, fundraisers, and community days that give residents a chance to see the people and equipment behind the 911 calls. This summer has also brought other community gatherings across Whatcom County, including support events for flood-affected families still navigating recovery from the December storms.
Mark the date: Saturday, July 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Birch Bay Waterslides parking lot. Show up hungry and ready to vote with your plate.
