WWU’s Last Night Out celebrates successful school year
Western Washington University’s end-of-year celebrations will shut down Commercial Street in downtown Bellingham with an event called Last Night Out on June 4, 2025, for graduating seniors and all students.
This event will be similar to First Night Out, the beginning-of-the-year celebration where Western students walk from Red Square to downtown and enjoy live music, free food and support local businesses at a discount. Unlike First Night Out, students will not walk from Red Square. Rather, they will be responsible for getting themselves downtown.
Last Night Out has a twist. The free food will be provided in a Longest Table style with two 200-feet tables placed down the middle of the street; There will be seating for around 450 people.
A Longest Table event was held last February at Western. The event was so successful that when planning Last Night Out, Western decided to combine the two ideas.
Western is partnering with the Downtown Bellingham Partnership to plan the downtown aspects of the event, said Chris Roselli, the university’s director of community relations. They are also partnering with the Basic Needs Hub since they were responsible for the last Longest Table event.
There will be three bands performing at the event: Harbor Seal, Ella Davis & the Youngblood Band and JAMN. Food will be provided by Cheba Hut “Toasted” Subs, Goat Mountain Pizza, Red Star Taco Bar and Avenue Bread Sandwiches.
The event and music will start at 5 p.m. with food being served a half hour later. The music will end at 7:30 p.m., but students can stay around downtown later.
Like First Night Out, certain local businesses will be open later than usual. Western will provide students with a map of all the businesses staying open late. Businesses have been encouraged to stay open until 9 p.m. There will also be plenty of bars open for students who are 21+ if they want to stay out later.
A big part of this event is honoring Western’s graduating seniors. Roselli, a Western alumnus himself, said in college, students make friends with all kinds of people. Roselli hopes this will be an opportunity for seniors to show up with their friends and have a final celebration.
“It’s a cool opportunity for our seniors to say, ‘Hey, thanks for the last four years,’” Roselli said.
Part of the event will include making thank-you cards. Students can make a thank-you card for one of their favorite things in Bellingham, such as their favorite server, bartender, restaurant or shop.
“This event is all about bringing people together,” said Gina Ebbeling, Western’s Basic Needs Hub’s resource navigator. “I think connection and community is a basic need.”
For the Longest Table part of the event, the Basic Needs Hub is recruiting and training table captains who, Ebbeling said, “are the key to this event.”
The table captains invite people and spread the word about the event. Additionally, they are in charge of activities at the tables. They will spark up conversations and have questions for people who are attending the event.
Table captains inviting their friends was what made last February’s Longest Table so successful, said Ebbeling. It was more effective than posters around campus or a random social media post, she said.
Sara Fennell, a Western student and an intern at The Basic Needs Hub, was a table captain at the last Longest Table. Now, Fennell is in charge of coordinating and training the table captains. She said being a table captain went really well.
“It’s really interesting because you never know who you’re going to sit by,” Fennell said. “That's the whole essence of what we’re trying to do at the Longest Table. Build community and inspire connection.”
Fennell, Roselli and Ebbeling all said this event is about building community and having a celebration.
”The nice thing about this event is we’re not promoting anything…we’re not trying to sell you anything,” Fennell said. “I hope students just get a chance to take a breather and sit down, maybe meet a new person.”