PORT ANGELES — The macaron is a deceptively complex little sandwich cookie to master, but customers at Olivia Furtado’s Middle Name Baking Co. booth at the 30th Juan de Fuca Festival won’t taste the effort.
They’ll savor the ideal combination of delicately crispy shell, chewy texture, and sweet filling that the 30 year-old Port Angeles resident has aced through trial and error.
It is a return to normalcy for the festival after the 2020 event was cancelled due to state-mandated COVID-19 restrictions and 2021’s event was presented in a hybrid format.
Erika Hitchcock uses recycled materials in many of her artworks, like this print of a deer and the Port Townsend’s Hastings Building that incorporates an embroidery hoop she found at the Goodwill and upcycled cloth. (Paula Hunt/Peninsula Daily News)
“I love big cakes” Furtado. “But I do pies, vegan. I’m constantly dabbling.”
This year’s festival is also first for Erika Hitchcock, a mixed-media artist from Port Townsend, whose Wurm Works features her eco-friendly cards, plastic-free stickers, prints, and custom pet portraits.
“I’m really excited to be here,” Hitchcock said. “This is my second career after being a horticulturist for over 13 years. I think that lends my art its nature-inspired focus.”
This was at least the 10th time that Edward and Tina Grammer have traveled from Bellingham to set up their Ohana Hawaiian BBQ food truck at the festival. Edward Grammer described Hawaiian barbecue as a blend of Pacific Rim flavors from Japan, Korea, Samoa and China.
“All these cultures came together in Hawaii when workers were brought in to work in the sugar cane fields,” Grammer said. “It fused and mixed all of these unique flavors.”
Alana Black, whose parents started Olympic Mountain Ice Cream almost 30 years ago in Mason County, has been coming to the festival for at least six years.
“We just like the area and its laid-back vibe,” Black said of her return to Port Angeles.
All of the berries in Olympic Mountain Ice Cream comes from the Willamette or Skagit valley, and the fruit in its seasonal peach ice cream comes from Yakima.
“This year we have 16 flavors. I’d say blackberry cheesecake and cookie dough are the favorites,” Black said.
Visitors don’t need to a ticket to enjoy many of the festival offerings.
The First Federal Community Tent hosts a lineup of events, including improv workshops, Peninsula College’s production of Medea and a storytelling and necklace-making workshop with the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
The adjacent Community State features performances from Olympic Theatre Arts, PA Panto and the Port Angeles Community Players. Poser Yoga will offer free yoga classes today at Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the lawn outside the Vern Burton entrance.
The festival street fair runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and Sunday. Ticketed live performances begin today and Sunday at 11: 30 a.m. with the final performances starting at 8:30 p.m.
The street fair and free community events take place outside Vern Burton, while the live performances, which require a ticket, are held on the Vern Burton Main Stage, the adjacent Chamber Stage and the Elks Naval Lodge ballroom, 131 E. First St.
Single-day tickets at the gate are $45 for adults and half-price for youths ages 15 to 21 with a student ID. Youths 14 and under accompanied by an adult are admitted free.
Information about the festival lineup is at JFFA.org. To reach the festival office, call 360-457-5411.
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Paula Hunt can be reached at 360-417-3509, or by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
