Some familiar faces, fangs, feathers and friends returned to the annual Dungeness River Festival on Sept. 22.
Visitors of all ages learned about the Sequim river and its importance to the area from Dungeness River Nature Center volunteers and more than a dozen area agencies/groups.
See more photos here.
It was the first time the event was held in the Dungeness River Railroad Park since 2019 due to Covid-19 and construction projects. Organizers said the turnout and weather were perfect.
They noted that with the Nature Center and bridge’s remodels and levee removal, the new parking lot made the event run smoother with more space.
As is tradition, area students attended, including 500–plus third-fifth graders from Helen Haller Elementary, and Five Acre School’s Sound Waves program brought more than 40 students to play marimbas throughout the event.
For more information about the Dungeness River Nature Center and the festival, visit dungenessrivercenter.org.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sporting a new salmon headband she made at the Dungeness River Festival, two-year-old Juniper Curry looks out on the Dungeness River from the Railroad Bridge on Sept. 22.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Kayden Connely, a fifth grader at Helen Haller Elementary, meets a friendly cougar at U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s booth during the Dungeness River Festival.
Volunteer Bob Boekelheide greets students during the Dungeness River Festival. He led students on a hunt for animals in a large mural by late-artist Tim Quinn.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Gretha Davis greets third graders Andre Turner and Leilanie Arellano Gallengos at the information Booth inside the Dungeness River Nature Center on Sept. 22. Students could get passports during the festival to visit different booths to receive stamps and a chance to win a prize. Davis asked students how many times theyve visited the center.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ At the Dungeness River Festival, volunteer Connie Barron speaks to school children about the different salmon species and how to keep the river healthy.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ During the Dungeness River Festival, Volunteer Stacey Fradkin talks to Jayne Caulfield about the weight of a red-tailed hawk’s wing.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Fourth-graders, from left, Wade McCarthey, Willem Van de Weghe, Theodore Wood and Jude Reno check out the inside of Fin, a giant interactive salmon with the North Olympic Salmon Coalition during the Dungeness River Festival.
