Cascadia Day is May 18th. Some people call David McCloskey the “grandfather of Cascadia” based on his early founding of the concept of Cascadian bioregionalism. In 2012, Eugene Oregon was the site of the Cascadia Unconference, organized by Elona Underwood with Cascadia Education Project, Mel and Devin and Casey with Cascadia Matters, and Brandon Letsinger with the Cascadia Department of Bioregion. It was these folks who determined that we needed our own day to talk about Cascadia. The day was chosen to align with the anniversary of the 1980 Loowit (Mt. St. Helens) volcanic eruption, in Southwest Washington.
PHOTO: DAVID SWANSON, USGS. Snow packed Mt. St. Helen’s summit, with white, billowing smoke; a bright blue sky, and tall fir trees in foreground.
Raise your Doug flag, wear your Cascadia patch, and connect with others across the bioregion who are building something meaningful together.
Whether it’s a backyard barbecue, a pub night, or a creative wheat-pasting session, every act of participation helps weave a stronger regional fabric.
How to celebrate Cascadia Day
10. Get creative. Write and share about how you understand the connection between the metaphoric similarities between the Loowit eruption and what’s happening now, through a nature-based lens or otherwise.
9. Learn something new about the watershed that you’re living within. What are the threats, who is working to regenerate the ecology, who are the communities that this affects? How are Tribal folks speaking about the issues?
8. Replenish your go-bag. Cycle through old food items, swap batteries, and replace your cold weather items with sunblock and summer-supplies. Do you have a wildfire smoke mask, inhaler, eye drops?
7. Practice your talking points about bioregioning this place. Talk to a kid about land, soil, growing food, or watersheds. Talk to an adult about how they feel about caring for the place that we love and find valuable, where are their concerns?
6.Think like a bioregionalist. Ask an elder about their memory of the 1980 eruption. Bioregioning is a cross-generational movement. Becoming resilient is to learn from one another and especially learning from Indigenous voices. Caring for people is a badge of a bioregionalist.
5.Change your social media profile pic with a Doug Flag.
4.Do something that is uncomfortable. Practice responding to uncertainty. Find beauty, gratitude, and celebrate humility. Curiosity and resourcefulness is the badge of a Cascadian.
3.Plan a bioregion-based foods potluck. Try to invite folks in-person, or drop off a flyer or hand-written note with your network of friends and senior community members.
2. Use food coloring to create Doug Flag-colored cupcakes, beer, or rice. Because, why not?
And the number one way to celebrate Cascadia Culture Week is…
1. Make a pact to celebrate Cascadia Day bigger, in a larger group, next year!
Seattle and Portland events
Cascadia Day Portland
For bioregional community resilience-building.
WHEN: Monday, May 18th, 4-8:00 PM WHERE: Taborspace (basement), 5441 SE Belmont St. Portland DETAILS: Your ticket includes a light dinner. Pre-sale ticket sales will make this event accessible for all. More info and sliding scale tickets here.
Join Cascadia Stack and Cascadian Action along with artists, live painters, singing bowls, geologists, maker-vendors, mutual aid groups, food & beverages. Drop in to discussions, cruise the art activity tables and pull up a chair to hear from the stage: poetry, songs, and learn about the curious and passionate people engaged in bioregionalism activities, including emergency preparedness, and sustainability. This event is seeking community participation and discussion pod hosts, fill out the participant interest form here.
Cascadia Day Poetry Explosion
An evening of poetry inspired by the Cascadia bioregion.
WHEN: Monday, May 18th 7:00 PM WHERE: Vermillion Bar & Gallery, 1508 11th Ave. Seattle. Capitol Hill neighborhood. DETAILS: Doors open at 6:30. Free admission, ages 21+. More information here.
Join Cascadia Democratic Action to celebrate Cascadia Day with a a lively reading, inspired by the Cascadia bioregion. Four poets will celebrate the day: Paul Nelson, Matt Trease, Nadine Maestas, and Rhea Melina. The event is free but we encourage those attending to donate to the Migrant Survival Fund, a mutual aid effort supporting at-risk immigrant families, and the Kawaguchi O’Connor Foundation (KOI), a mutual aid group that supports trans people in Seattle who have fled hostile states.
Folks are mobilizing!
In essence, the week is an opportunity to educate and celebrate our beautiful bioregion. We hope each of you join us in celebrating Cascadia Culture Week, the time before and after Cascadia Day each year in which we celebrate the incredible diversity and culture that make this region so wonderful. Use the digital graphics, and forward to any person, business, group or community; create a display. Share with friends, local museums, businesses, educators, libraries, politicians, journalists, bookstores or anyone else you think could benefit. Please feel free to adapt and alter these!
Orca—Beaver—Salmon. Cascadia Culture Week 2026
Cascadia is not defined by political borders, but by watersheds, ecosystems, and interconnected communities. To celebrate Cascadia Day is to recognize that we are part of this living system, and that our responsibility is to steward it with intention.
A movement to build interdependence, sustainability, and resiliency for the Cascadia bioregion, starting from our watersheds. Become a member and find your place in it.
