John Carson, Executive Director
Since 1992, the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association (BIDA) has worked year-round to support key signature community events, downtown beautification, seasonal decorations, economic vitality, and visitor resources.
BIDA is an accredited agency for the Washington Main Street Program, a comprehensive strategy designed to create and preserve a vibrant, inclusive, beautiful, and dynamic downtown. Our goal is to continue revitalizing and strengthening our downtown for local businesses, the community, and out-of-town visitors, while preserving and celebrating the authenticity of Bainbridge as a unique place to live, work, visit, stay, dine, shop, and play.
To fulfill our mission, we carry out a variety of initiatives, including producing the hands-on Walkabout Guide, which welcomes, orients, and educates visitors. We also develop, produce, and market successful events such as Bainbridge is Blooming, the Third of July Street Dance, First Friday Art Walk, and Downtown Holiday Celebrations. In addition, BIDA focuses on building “shoulder season” economic and tourism growth. These efforts draw locals and visitors downtown, which in turn amplifies the impact of our coordinated work.
About the Bainbridge Island Downtown Association
Board of Directors 2026:
Stephen Sunshine, President
Hayden Starkey, Vice President & Treasurer
Clay Levit, Secretary
Lindsey Neste, Director
Jim Wilford, Director
Kim Peralta, Director
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather is within the aboriginal territory of the suqʼʷábš “People of Clear Salt Water” (Suquamish People). Expert fishers, canoe builders, and basket weavers, the suqʼʷábš live in harmony with the lands and waterways along Washington’s Central Salish Sea as they have for thousands of years. Here the suqʼʷábš live and protect the land and waters of their ancestors for future generations as promised by the Point Elliot Treaty of 1855. We pay respects to their elders past and present.