April 3rd and 4th of 2020 will be a great weekend for those visiting Bellingham, WA for the Division 1 Barbershop convention.  Bellingham, Washington and the surrounding Whatcom County is a great location for abundant nature, outdoor adventure and sweeping scenery from the Salish Sea to Mt. Baker and North Cascades National Park. Savor farm to table menus, craft brews, family moments, a vibrant arts scene and charming historical treasures.  We are just 25 minutes south of the Canadian border and 105 minutes north of Seattle.  Your host hotel is at the stunning Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Bellingham.  The hotel features Bellingham's hottest new restaurant, B-Town Kitchen and Raw Bar, voted best new restaurant by Bellingham Alive readers. It is located centrally to downtown Bellingham and near many of Bellingham's waterfront activities, breweries, shopping, and many restaurants. A heated indoor pool, a 24 hour fitness center and awesome new beds make this a great spot to rest after all your singing.  Room blocks are limited.  First come, First Served!

Our performing art center will be at the Bellingham High School less than 2 miles from the hotel.  This is the same venue that hosted the 2015 Division convention.  It has a great stage with theatre style seating for a large audience of over 500 people.  Our quartets and choruses will have great spaces to rehearse with classrooms that are located in the same building as the performing art center. 

New this year is the embracing of Everyone in Harmony with offering the inclusion of mixed and all female groups.  Convention participants competing as mixed or all female do need BHS membership. Groups will compete in thier specific category, recieve evaluations, and the top ranked groups in their category will be featured on the Saturday night show!! 

As is typical with all other conventions, Friday night will start things off with the Quartet Competition starting at 6:30pm. Rehearsal rooms will be available at 4:30pm with access to the stage for quick mic tests.  A time slot matrix will be provided.  Doors will open for the audience by 5:45pm.  We will continue Saturday morning with the Chorus Competition starting at 10am.  We will have coaching panels following each competition.

After an afternoon of enjoying the surrounding area and making memorable connections we will all enjoy a amazing SHOW OF CHAMPIONS.  We promise that you won’t want to miss this one (No comedy group this time...can't blame us for trying last year though!).  We have a few surprises up our sleeves for this near 2 hour entertainment packed show!  Immediately following the SHOW OF CHAMPIONS, head over to the host hotel for a grand afterglow.  It will feature many reasons to stay over and further connect with your fellow barbershoppers and audience members.  Here are some of the awesome things we have in store for the afterglow…

  • Discounted Food and Drinks
  • Tag Party Room:  TAGS on the big screen, good juicy tags, led by Josh Honrud and friends.
  • B-Town Bar – Quarteting Performances.  Want to enjoy the sounds of some of our districts great quartets?  This section, located right around the corner from the TAG party, is the bar where you will mingle with non-barbershoppers and barbershoppers alike.

We are so excited to connect with you in just a few short months.