No event epitomizes Humboldt County like the Kinetic Grand Championship, where the quirky and clever come out for a good time Memorial Day weekend. It’s a three-day, art sculpture/crazy contraption race that’s a blast for both race participants and spectators. Onlookers delight in the elaborate, human-powered sculptures that maneuver over a treacherous 50-mile course on […]
Humboldt Insider
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Art to Go
Humboldt is packed with artists —splash some paint and you’ll hit one, in fact. And you don’t have to be a hardcore collector to take a little piece of our art scene home with you to enjoy. Arcata Artisans A broad sampling of work by Humboldt artists fills this fine art and craft cooperative gallery […]
Posted inStories
Theater Kids
Arcata Playhouse founders Jackie Dandeneau and David Ferney met as young actors touring the Canadian Fringe Circuit in the summer of 1995. The story goes that her sketch comedy troupe crashed his comic acrobatic troupe’s show in Edmonton. After that first encounter, “I chased her around the world. Literally,” says Ferney. They eventually moved to […]
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In the Loop
For ladies or gents who fancy a good old-fashioned stitch n’ bitch, our local knitting shops are amply stocked to keep your hands busy. Whether you’re new to handicrafts or looking for guidance, Humboldt’s yarn shops are ready to help you get started. Yarn A good first stop on your knitting shop scavenger hunt is […]
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Fiberglass, Rubber & Adrenaline
Humboldt winter brings dark mornings with chilly temperatures, ferocious winds, eerie skies and rainy predictions. For some, the winds are reassuring. They mean a storm is brewing — one that has traveled thousands of miles to greet our shores with waves. While everyone else is hunkered down with a hot beverage, watching movies or staring […]
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The Humidor
For the past 17 years, Humboldt has enjoyed unexpected access to the finer pleasures in life thanks to the friendly staff at Myrtlewood Liquors and John’s Fine Cigars. The folks behind the counter can switch hit between talking shop about vintage Port to where the biggest fish have been biting. The selection surpasses expectations of […]
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Iron in the Blood
Welcome to my shop. I live at the end of a long dirt road in Ettersburg in Southern Humboldt County. Every morning I pull the chains to open the two large rollup doors, reintroducing the cold steel layout table, the anvil and rows of tongs and hammers to the rich, quiet beauty of the forest […]
Posted inPerfect Trips
Perfect Winter Trips
The North Coast doesn’t really do seasons the way the rest of the world does. We don’t believe in dividing the year into four neat periods, each with their own weather. Instead, mix up our rain and fog, darkness and light in varying quantities and distribute it in ever surprising ways throughout the seasons. Our […]
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Hit the Books
The 50-year-old independent institution of Northtown Books (957 H St., Arcata, 822-2834), with its flier-filled window, is the oldest bookstore in the county. Along with a curated selection of fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, guides and magazines, the shop has a section dedicated to Humboldt history and culture. Peek at those fliers and you just might […]
Posted inStories
Learning a Thing or Two
If you ask around about the big Intertribal Elders Gathering, to which thousands of native and non-native people from all over the Pacific Northwest flock every year, you’ll hear again and again, “You should talk to André.” Fifty-two-year-old André Cramblit has long waves of gray hair and an occasional sly smile. And he has had […]