The first SeaFeast kicks off today, Friday Sept. 30 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 1. The festival is to showcase and celebrate Bellingham’s maritime heritage, seafood industry and working waterfront.

Event highlights include an international salmon barbecue contest, local fisherman reading poems and leading sea shanties, and salmon grilled in a traditional Lummi Nation open-pit method.

Events on Friday run from 4-11 p.m. at Boundary Bay Brewery. Events on Saturday run from10 a.m.-8 p.m. and will mostly be at Zuanich Point Park, on Squalicum Harbor.

Most events are free except for the finale at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The finale, “A Feast of the Sea” will consist of 30 different seafood dishes, beer, wine and desserts. Tickets are $90 and must be reserved in advance and can be purchased at www.bellinghamseafeast.com/seafeast-finale/.

Last year, SeaFeast won the contest to be the city’s next signature event. Organizers were awarded $75,000 from the city hotel and motel tax to put the event together, the Bellingham Herald reported.

For the full events lineup and for more information, visit http://www.bellinghamseafeast.com/.