PORT ANGELES — Todd Schultz walked away from the food vendor booth Saturday staring down a deep-fried, sugary bread confection called an elephant ear.
“You can’t go wrong,” said Schultz of Bellingham, who with fellow Western Washington University student Julie Murray took a break from studying for finals.
The pair tagged along with Schultz’s parents and traveled to Port Angeles for the 13th Juan de Fuca Festival of Arts.
During the afternoon, the pair checked out the ukulele stylings of Del Rey and Uke Shack at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center.
But afterward, while wandering the booths and exhibits near the Vern Burton Center, the pair found themselves drawn to the elephant ear delicacy.
It was partly because Schultz had never tried one before.
“That’s why we got it,” Murray said, who admitted that she had tangled with the sweet, starchy treat in the past.
Six performance stages
The food at the annual festival of arts may excite the senses, but Epicurean delights aren’t the only draw.
On six stages spread through town at four different locations, the festival features music, dance, drama, visual arts crafts, film and children’s performances.
The musical acts range from jazz and blues to symphonies and most points in-between.
Nancy Vivolo, president of the festival board, couldn’t help but tap her toe during the Saturday afternoon performance of master flutist Hanz Araki and An Tua.
She said art and music have the power to cross cultural and geographic boundaries.
“A lot of people in town don’t have the opportunity to travel,” Vivolo said.
“Why not bring the world to them?”
Facepainting booth
Olivia Bailey, a Port Angeles High School senior, organized a booth in which kids of all ages could get their faces painted or their hands decorated with henna.
Donations raised at the booth went to Adopt-a-Minefield, a United Nations group that that works internationally to remove landmines leftover from wars.
It costs up to $30 to plant a landmine, but can run up to $1,000 to remove one, according to Adopt-A-Minefield literature.
Bailey said that in the past year, her facepainting booths have raised about $800.
Over the Fuca Festival weekend, Bailey said they hope to raise $400.
On Saturday, Bailey said she and her friends painted on about 50 people.
The Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts runs through Monday at the Vern Burton Center at 308 E. Fourth St., the Elks Naval Lodge at 131 E. First St., the Fine Arts Stage at 1203 E. Lauridsen Blvd. and the Peninsula College Film Festival and Arts Stage at 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.
Tickets are on sale at the venues, and program guides are available as most venues as well.
General admission tickets cost $13, and tickets for festival members, students and senior citizens cost $12.
