Canadians and Americans will gather Friday at the Peace Arch on the Blaine border to mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The Northwest 9/11 Memorial ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and is expected to draw more than 400 attendees, including first responders, military personnel, public officials, and community members from both sides of the international boundary.
Four New York first responders who were on duty during the September 11 attacks will be among the special guests at this year's ceremony, bringing a direct personal connection to the events being commemorated. A Homeland Security helicopter flyover is planned as part of the program, along with Canadian and American first responders standing together beneath the Peace Arch as a symbol of the shared response to the attacks and the enduring friendship between the two nations.
How the Ceremony Will Unfold
Motorcycle and vehicle processions from both Canada and Washington state will arrive at the memorial ahead of the ceremony's 11 a.m. start. The procession format has been a tradition at this event, with first responders and community members riding or driving to the site as a visible demonstration of solidarity and remembrance. Participants traveling from the Canadian side cross through the Blaine port of entry and proceed to the park, while Washington-side participants typically gather at a staging area before riding together to the Peace Arch.
Following the formal ceremony, a community barbecue will be held at Peace Arch Provincial Park on the Canadian side of the border. The combination of the memorial observance and the social gathering afterward reflects the event's dual purpose: honoring those killed and those who responded on September 11, and celebrating the cross-border bonds that characterize life in the Blaine-Surrey corridor. The informal gathering after the formal program gives attendees from both countries an opportunity to connect in a way that the structured ceremony itself does not allow.
The Peace Arch Historical State Park sits directly on the international boundary between Blaine, Washington, and Surrey, British Columbia. The Peace Arch monument itself, completed in 1921, bears the inscriptions "Children of a Common Mother" on the American side and "Brethren Dwelling Together in Unity" on the Canadian side. It has served as a gathering point for cross-border civic events for more than a century and is one of the few places in North America where citizens of two nations can gather in a shared physical space that symbolizes the boundary between them without the boundary being an obstacle.
The Significance of the 25th Anniversary
The 25th anniversary carries particular weight. A full quarter-century has passed since the attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and set in motion changes to national security, foreign policy, and daily life that continue to shape both countries. For many people attending this year's ceremony, it will be the first major anniversary commemoration they attend as adults who were children or not yet born when the attacks occurred. That generational shift gives the 25th anniversary a distinct character: it is both a milestone of memory for those who lived through the day and an act of transmission for those learning about it secondhand.
The northwest Washington and southwest British Columbia region has its own relationship with the events of September 11. Border communities along the Blaine corridor experienced immediate and lasting changes to the crossing experience in the months and years following the attacks, as security infrastructure at ports of entry expanded significantly. The Peace Arch crossing, which had operated with relatively light formalities for decades, became a more structured and time-consuming environment as federal agencies on both sides implemented new screening requirements, vehicle inspection protocols, and documentation standards. That transformation reshaped daily life for the many residents of Whatcom County and the Fraser Valley who cross the border regularly for work, shopping, and family visits.
Canada's response to September 11 included deploying military and diplomatic resources in solidarity with the United States and accepting thousands of air travelers diverted from American airspace in the hours after the attacks. The cross-border nature of Friday's ceremony acknowledges that shared history and the depth of the alliance between the two countries that the attacks both tested and ultimately strengthened.
The ceremony in Blaine also takes place against the backdrop of current tensions in the U.S.-Canada relationship, with tariff disputes and political friction creating an unusual atmosphere for a cross-border commemorative event. Organizers and attendees tend to treat the September 11 anniversary as a moment that transcends those day-to-day political dynamics, focusing on the shared grief and shared response that defined the immediate aftermath of the attacks rather than on current policy disagreements.
How to Attend
The Peace Arch Historical State Park is accessible from the Blaine city center via Peace Portal Drive. Parking in the immediate area of the Peace Arch can be limited during large events, so arriving early is advisable. The Canadian side of the park, Peace Arch Provincial Park, is managed by BC Parks and is accessible through the Blaine crossing or for those coming from Surrey on the Canadian side.
The event is open to the public, and community members from throughout Whatcom County are welcome to attend. First responders, military veterans, and family members with personal connections to the September 11 attacks are encouraged to take part in the formal ceremony. For more information on the Peace Arch site and its history, the Washington State Parks Peace Arch page offers background on the monument and park hours. The Blaine community's long tradition of cross-border civic engagement, also reflected in ongoing coverage of the shared environmental and economic interests of the two countries, makes Friday's gathering a fitting local expression of a national day of remembrance.
