After a long weekend of lavender love in July, George Washington Inn/Washington Lavender Farm was once again ready for some “revolutionary” rabble-rousing.
The 2018 Northwest Colonial Festival brought visitors from far and wide to the Olympic Peninsula Aug. 9-12, with visitors perusing a colonial village and viewing daily reenactments of the American Revolution’s Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Festival events also included historical talks on the history of the American flag, frontier life and the like, and visits and talks with historical figures such as George and Martha Washington, and John and Abigail Adams.
“We are really thrilled; it was phenomenal,” Dan Abbott, one of the inn’s owners, said. “Everyone was pitching in, doing their parts, making it better.”
Abbott said this year’s events saw ticket sales go up about 15 percent and saw more than 1,330 individual tickets purchased.
Even a bit of rain on Saturday afternoon didn’t seem to spoil the good mood, Abbott said.
Abbott credited organizer Dan Wilbanks for building the festival over the years and Jane Ritchey, who portrayed Martha Washington during the festival, for stepping in when Wilbanks was unable to assist this year.
“And it couldn’t have happened without the volunteers,” Abbott said.
Abbott credited a more concerted effort in advertising for the boost in attendance. He said festival organizers have formed an advisory committee to enhance aspects of the festival, and are looking at enhancing its British regiment with more local reenactors. A crew from KING-TV’s “Evening Magazine” was shooting some footage during the event and looks to air something soon, he said.
“Everybody (was) really pumped up from this year’s event. It has its own momentum,” Abbott said.
For more about the Northwest Colonial Festival, see colonialfestival.wordpress.com.
