by MATTHEW NASH
Sequim Gazette

If you are reading this story, chances are high you are one of the tens of thousands of visitors in Sequim for Lavender Weekend.

 

This year features two separate events — the Sequim Lavender Festival and the Sequim Lavender Farm Faire — running July 15-17. Both groups offer several events along with food, lavender vendors and demonstrations.

 

Here is a rundown of events and details on the two events:

 

Sequim Lavender Farm Faire

The Sequim Lavender Farm Faire has a paid admission for the Lavender Farms on Tour with $10 advance tickets available through July 14 for unlimited admission to all seven of the farms.

 

Through the event, tickets are $15 at the farms and $10 for active military and their dependents. There is no admission fee for children 12 and under.

 

The world-famous lavender farms on tour are Cedarbrook Lavender & Herb Farm, Olympic Lavender Farm, Port Williams Lavender, Purple Haze Lavender, Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm and Washington Lavender. Jardin du Soleil rejoins the farm tour but will not be on the bus schedule.

 

Free farm tour buses leave beginning at 9:30 a.m. from the bus stop at the north end of Lavender in the Park on Blake Avenue and run through 6 p.m. Buses leave every 30-45 minutes. Ample parking is available on Blake Avenue, managed by the Sequim High School Band Boosters with a $2 donation requested to help fund band programs. The farm tour ticket includes free parking at the farms.

 

Each ticket comes with a souvenir “Lavender Passport” — collect at least three stamps from the Farms on Tour and Lavender in the Park at Carrie Blake Park to enter a drawing for prizes.

 

Advance tickets are available at the farms on tour, First Federal Sequim and Port Angeles branches, Frick’s Healthcare, Medical Equipment and Photo, Garden Bistro, Heather Creek, Jeremiah’s BBQ, KONP Radio, McComb Gardens, Necessities & Temptations, Olympic Cellars Winery, Port Book & News, Purple Haze Lavender store, Reddog Coffee Co., Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, Wild Birds Unlimited, All Things Lavender in Seattle and online at Brown Paper Tickets.

Lavender in the Park

A key part of the fair is Lavender in the Park with more than 150 food, crafts and nonprofit organizations’ booths, agricultural programs and demonstrations in Carrie Blake Park and the Water Reuse Demonstration Site.

 

The Honorable Kiyokazu Ota, consul general of Japan, officially will open the fair at noon Friday, July 15, at the James Center for the Performing Arts in Carrie Blake/Reuse Demonstration Park. Sequim has a Sister City relationship with Shiso, Japan. The Shiso Sister City Friendship Garden is located in Carrie Blake Park.

 

Newly and previously announced additions to Lavender in the Park include:
• The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center
• Master Gardeners of Clallam County Foundation
• Nash’s Food and Farming Zone
• Pet-sitting with shade, water, treats and exercise (if authorized)
• The Glass Odyssey Corvette Club Show-N-Shine 11 a.m.-4 p.m. July 17
• Northaven Herding sheep herding demos
• Native Horsemanship Riding Center
• Clallam County PUD
• Clallam County Sheriff
• Lowell’s Tools’ gardening tools demonstrations

Music in the park

Free and family friendly music fills the air at Lavender in the Park at the James Center for the Performing Arts. All weekend, musicians play the stage with two featured evening concerts by artists Crème Tangerine, a Beatles tribute band, and Cort Armstrong and Blue Rooster, foot-stomping country blues and ragtime. Last year 2,000 people attended Crème Tangerine’s show during Lavender Weekend. They play 7-9 p.m. Friday, July 15. Armstrong and Blue Rooster play 7-9 p.m. Saturday, July 16.

 

Food booths and a wine and beer garden sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Winery Association and Olympic Distributors will be open during the concerts.

Lavender in the Park’s music schedule:

 

Friday, July 15

• 10-10:45 a.m. Naki’I (Hawaiian Duo)
• 11 a.m.-noon; and 2:30-3:30 p.m. Alternators
• Noon-1 p.m. Opening ceremony
• 1:15-2:15 p.m.; and 5-6:30 p.m. Abby Mae and the Homeschool Boys
• 3:45-4:45 p.m. Soulshakers
• 7-9 p.m. Crème Tangerine

 

Saturday, July 16

• 10-11 a.m. Kevin, Scott & Mary
• 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.; and 1:45-2:45 p.m. String Therapy
• 12:30-1:30 p.m.; and 3-4 p.m. Olympic Sax Quartet
• 4:15-5:15 p.m. Bound to Happen
• 5:30-6:30 p.m. OK2Botay
• 7-9 p.m. Cort Armstrong and Blue Rooster

 

Sunday, July 17

• 10-11 a.m.; and 12:30-1:30 p.m. Hunter-Tulin Duo
• 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Howly Slim
• 1:45-2:30 p.m.; and 4:45-5:45 p.m. BBR
• 3-4 p.m. Sequim City Band
Garden Bistro, 104 E. Washington St., at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Sequim Avenue, hosts a musical stage through the weekend. Schedule is as follows:

 

July 15

• Noon-1 p.m. Naki’I (Hawaiian Duo)
• 1-3 p.m. Awesome Bob
• 3-4 p.m. LaVee and Company
• 5-6 p.m. Hunter-Tulin
• 6-7 p.m. Chez Jazz
• 7-8 p.m. Abby Mae and The Homeschool Boys

 

July 16

• 11 a.m.-noon LaVee and Company
• Noon-3 p.m. Howly Slim
• 3-4 p.m. Village Heartbeat
• 4-5 p.m. Olympic Mountain Cloggers
• 5-7 p.m. Kate Lily
• 7-8 p.m. Bound To Happen

 

July 17

• 2-3 p.m. The Village Heartbeat
• 3-4 p.m. Tulin-Yslas
• 4-5:30 p.m. Hunter-Tulin
• 5:30 Awesome Bob
Each farm on tour hosts live music as well. Read the fair program or visit www.sequimlavenderfarms.org or call 452-6300 for more information.

Sequim Lavender Festival

The organizers of the Sequim Lavender Festival are running a “U-Pick, U-Tour, U-Free Admission to Farms and Street Fair” promotion this year.

 

They offer a free self-guided tour of seven farms: Blackberry Forest, The Lavender Connection, Lost Mountain Lavender, Martha Lane Lavender, Nelson’s Duckpond & Lavender Farm, Oliver’s Lavender Farm and Peninsula Nurseries.

 

The popular Street Fair on Fir Street runs 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday with more than 150 vendors.

 

Participants include lavender farmers and product makers, nonprofits and more.

 

Sequim Lavender Festival’s Fir Street music stage hosts popular gardening guru Ed Hume, who comes to the Sequim Lavender Festival to speak, along with performances through the weekend.

Sequim Lavender Festival schedule:

 

July 15

• 11-11:15 a.m. Opening ceremonies
• 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Ed Hume: Gardening with Ed
• 12:45-1:45 p.m. Pearl Django
• 2-3 p.m. Shula Azhar Belly Dancers
• 3:15-4:15 p.m. Pearl Django
• 4:30-5:30 p.m. Final Approach
• 6-8 p.m. Pearl Django and dinner/dance

 

July 16

• 11 a.m.-noon Hot Club Sandwich
• 12:15-1:15 p.m. Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys
• 1:30-2:30 p.m. Black Diamond Fiddle Club
• 2:45-3:45 p.m. Turlin/Hunter
• 4-5 p.m. Abby Mae & the Homeschool Boys
• 5:30-7 p.m. George Rezendez & Southbound

 

July 17

• 11 a.m.-noon Sarah Shea and Chez Jazz
• 12:15-1:15 p.m. Kevin Magner & Bound to Happen
• 1:30-2:30 p.m. Tanga
• 2:45-3:35 p.m. Hot Club Sandwich
• 4-5 p.m. Discovery Bay Pirates

Destination events the festival is promoting are:

 

• Sunbonnet Sue’s 25th annual Quilt Show, from 10 a.m.-

5 p.m. July 15-17, at  Sequim Middle School, 301 W. Hendrickson Road
• Protection Island Puffin Dinner Cruises, 7-9 p.m. July 15-16; $65 per person
• Antique, Classic and Custom Car Show at the Street Fair, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. July 17
• Olympic Driftwood Sculptors, 865 Carlsborg Road, free 10 a.m.-6 p.m. July 15-16, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. July 17
• Sequim Studio Tour 2011, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. July 15-17,
10 a.m.-5 p.m. July 17
• Totem Tour, Salmon & Stories on the Bay, 4 p.m. July 15. Call the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal office at 681-4600 or e-mail Anika Kessler at akessler@jamestowntribe.org for tickets.

 

 

For more information on the Sequim Lavender Festival, e-mail info@lavenderfestival.com, call 681-3035 or visit www.lavenderfestival.com.