A year ago, a Thursday night at the Port of Everett meant packing a cooler, staking out lawn space at Port Gardner Landing, and hoping the food truck line moved before the opening set. If you wanted a real dinner within walking distance, you had two options: Fisherman Jack's or South Fork Baking Company. Everyone knew it. Everyone ate at one of them anyway.
The 2026 waterfront is a different neighborhood. Five restaurants have opened at Fisherman's Harbor's Restaurant Row since December, a new foot ferry started running to Langley in June, and the free Thursday concert series is back with a lineup that leans hard into '80s and '90s singalongs. For the first time, a resident can build a full evening on the water without ever getting back in the car.
The Thursday, hour by hour
Music at the Marina runs Thursdays in July and August, with the site open 5 to 9 p.m. at Port Gardner Landing and music starting at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free. The 2026 lineup is a mix of local bands and dedicated tribute acts:
| Date | Act | Style |
|---|---|---|
| July 2 | Cloud Cover | Local |
| July 9 | Nite Wave | '80s |
| July 16 | Santa Poco | Local |
| July 23 | The Little Lies | Fleetwood Mac tribute |
| August 13 | Victims of Love | Eagles tribute |
| August 27 | Queen Mother | Queen tribute |
The tribute-heavy programming is deliberate. Music at the Marina's organizers leaned into bands like The Eagles, Queen, and Fleetwood Mac because their catalogs lend themselves to singing along, which is a big reason music fans come to a free outdoor show in the first place.
Two Thursdays in the middle of July break the free-concert pattern. Rock the Boat lands on the waterfront July 17 and 18, 2026, with Pam Tillis, Little Texas, and Doug Stone on night one, and Everclear, Marcy Playground, and Deep Blue Something on night two. Those are ticketed 21+ shows at Boxcar Park, not Port Gardner Landing, and parking gets tight fast.
If you want to keep the night going after the free show wraps at 9, Everett Music Initiative has partnered with Marcel to run an official Music at the Marina afterparty every Thursday, featuring DJ Holy Cannoli from 8 to 11 p.m.
Restaurant Row, before and after
The two-building addition to Fisherman's Harbor is what makes the new Thursday routine work. The pair of new buildings cost $15.2 million and sit next to the existing Restaurant Row property that houses dim sum fusion spot Fisherman Jack's and South Fork Baking Company, both of which opened in 2023. The wave of new tenants filled in around them:
- Rustic Cork Wine Bar — Opened December 2, 2025. Wine flights from the Columbia and Yakima valleys, on-tap local craft beers and ciders, sharable plates, plus a rooftop bar with panoramic views of the marina, Olympic Mountains, and Possession Sound, and a 1,000-square-foot private event room.
- The Net Shed Fish Market & Kitchen — Grand opening December 16, 2025. A combination seafood restaurant and fish market with patio seating along Seiner Wharf overlooking the commercial fishing dock.
- Tapped Public House — Ribbon cutting March 2, 2026, with panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains and Port of Everett Marina, and the largest open-air rooftop deck on the waterfront in Snohomish County. Floor-to-ceiling windows and roll-up garage doors open the space in warmer months; the interior is anchored by a mural of an octopus.
- Menchie's at the Marina — Ribbon cutting March 13, 2026. Self-serve frozen yogurt at Fisherman's Harbor, and the family's third Snohomish County location after Bothell and Marysville.
- Marina Azul Cocina & Cantina — A family-owned concept from the team behind Casa Azul in Woodinville and Agave Cocina & Cantina in Issaquah, opening at Waterfront Place in 2026. The 10-year lease covers 2,717 square feet in Suite 102, with indoor seating, an outdoor patio built for year-round use, fresh tacos, specialty margaritas, and curated cocktails.
One space is still unfilled. Port officials are looking for a breakfast operator to break up the dinner options, and for the last remaining pad, a steakhouse or experiential concept. A morning café would close the last gap in a walkable waterfront day.
The pace is worth pausing on. Five restaurants in fifteen weeks, on 65 acres that were closed to the public a generation ago. Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber has pointed out that the site was Everett's mill-town epicenter, followed by decades of industrial use, and carried legacy contamination and limited public access before the Port's cleanup and infrastructure work.
The Harbor Hopper changes the geometry
The other thing that shifted in June is what a Thursday can reach.
A summer pilot program launched June 4 with the first-ever seasonal passenger-only ferry service between Everett and Langley, intended to support regional tourism, economic activity, and improved public access during its 2026 trial run. The Harbor Hopper is a walk-on service aboard the 45-passenger Hat Island Ferry, running Thursdays and Saturdays June 4 through August 29 with two Everett-bound and two Langley-bound sailings on each operating day. Fares are $10 to $12 one-way or $16 to $20 round-trip, and each crossing lasts 30 to 45 minutes. The service pauses on July 2 and July 4.
Boarding is at South Dock 1 at the Port of Everett Marina, near Anthony's HomePort. On the Whidbey side, the boat lands at Langley's J Dock, a short walk into what Langley calls itself: the Village by the Sea. No cars or bikes are allowed on board, and reservations are strongly recommended; walk-ons are subject to availability at the gangway.
Read the schedule closely and something interesting shows up. The ferry runs on Thursdays. Music at the Marina is on Thursdays. If you catch the afternoon or evening return from Langley, you can spend a Thursday morning on Whidbey — Saratoga Passage views, forested trails, galleries, restaurants, and the businesses of a certified Washington State Creative District — and still be back at Port Gardner Landing before the 6:30 downbeat. That's a routine that did not exist in 2025.
Two other quiet facts about the ferry matter. A proposal during the 2026 Washington legislative session that would have let local port districts fund passenger ferries through tolls or voter-approved taxes died in the House, which means the Harbor Hopper is running as a sponsored pilot rather than a permanent funded route. The program is also being used to test demand for potential permanent tourism and commuter service between Everett and Whidbey in the future. If July and August ridership shows up, the case for something year-round strengthens. If it doesn't, the boat stops in September.
A few practical notes locals figure out the second time
- Parking gets tight after 5. The Thursday concerts, the Restaurant Row dinner rush, and the Harbor Hopper's evening return all peak in the same window. The Port encourages arriving by boat to Guest Dock 2, which is ADA-compliant moorage. Rideshare is the easier answer.
- Walk in from downtown. Downtown Everett is a short walk to the waterfront via the Grand Avenue Park Bridge, or a quick ride on public transit. Everett Transit's Route 6 connects downtown to the waterfront. If you live in the Riverside, Bayside, or Northwest neighborhoods, the bridge is faster than fighting for a marina spot.
- The Rock the Boat weekend is the exception, not the rule. The July 17 and 18 shows at Boxcar Park are 21+, ticketed, and pull a regional crowd. If you were planning a low-key Music at the Marina Thursday on July 16, you'll have Santa Poco and the usual free format; Friday and Saturday belong to the country and '90s bills.
- The Harbor Hopper booking site opened after the initial announcement. Details, tides, and any late-season schedule changes live at portofeverett.com/HarborHopper. Ramps can vary with the tide, which matters if you're rolling a stroller or a mobility device on board.
- Fourth of July is its own animal. The Boeing Thunder on the Bay Fireworks light the sky above the Snohomish River and Port Gardner Bay around 10:15 p.m. on July 4, with a synchronized soundtrack on KKXA 101.1 FM and 1520 AM. If you're staying home, the Legion Park and Grand Avenue bluffs get the best sightlines.
The point
Everett's waterfront has been under construction, in one form or another, for a decade. What changed in 2026 is that the pieces started functioning as a single place. Waterfront Place now hosts 16-plus restaurants and 90-plus annual events including Music at the Marina, Float Find, and Sail-In Cinema, alongside two waterfront hotels. A resident walking down from Grand Avenue can hear a Fleetwood Mac tribute at Port Gardner Landing, eat a Prime Rib Dip on a rooftop deck, and put their kids on a foot ferry to a Whidbey art gallery on the same day, without a car keys ever entering the picture.
That's the quiet story of this summer. Not that a new building opened. That the waterfront finally hangs together as a neighborhood.
If your Everett Thursday is starting to include a decision about whether to sell, refinance, or right-size closer to the waterfront you already love, the team at Team NSRG knows this market block by block. Schedule a consultation and we'll help you think through what the next chapter looks like.
