Celebrate Whidbey Island’s Indigenous Culture at Penn Cove Water Festival

Coming up on May 18, Whidbey Island’s Penn Cove Water Festival highlights Native American history through an outdoor family festival featuring music, crafts, and traditional canoe races. Entertainment includes traditional storytelling and music while enjoying the only tribal canoe race to not take place on a reservation. On the evening of May 17, join a bonfire where Native American myths and legends will be shared by anthropologist Lou LaBombard.

Coupeville is located on Whidbey Island, which was once a tremendous trading center for the Coast Salish. It's right where all three major mountain river systems (Skagit, Stillaguamish, Snohomish) converge, ultimately connecting the saltwater tribes of the Salish Sea with the Plateau tribes and the whole Columbia River Basin trade network.  This was like the Manhattan of Coast Salish Life, yet the arrival of American settlers in 1845 had a major impact. At one time there were thousands of interned Indians from all over the area living on the beaches of Penn Cove.

Historic Whidbey’s team is working with local historians and tribes to share the history of the area and its implications for the future. In addition to its educational value as a time capsule of Euro-American settlement, Haller House will share the impact of the arrival of American settlers on indigenous peoples. The Haller House will open to the public by 2026 as a heritage center specific to events that occurred between 1845-79 but will host open houses beginning May 18 during the Penn Cove Water Festival.

Find more information on the event at www.penncovewaterfestival.com and lodging information at www.whidbeycamanoislands.com.