PORT ANGELES — Let’s do a flyover for just a few snapshots of the four-day pageant of music, dance and mind expansion.
The Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts starts with a Zumba party — aerobic dance to Latin and pop music — at 3 p.m. Friday. Then comes Kazüm, an acrobalance dance troupe, at 5 p.m., the Pacific Northwest Guitar Trio at 5:45 p.m., bluegrass and honkytonk with Marley’s Ghost at 7 p.m. and Poor Man’s Whiskey, a San Francisco Bay Area rock-and-bluegrass outfit, at 8:30 p.m.
That’s just one day of main-stage offerings at the Vern Burton Community Center, the festival hub at 308 W. Fourth St., Port Angeles.
The 18th annual Fuca, as the event is known, features more than 80 concerts plus 11 music and movement workshops, a free street fair and, new this year, four downtown venues hosting after-hours gigs with festival performers.
Back to the flyover: On Friday, blues singer-guitarist David Jacobs-Strain plays the intimate Chamber Stage behind the Vern Burton at 6:45 p.m. and then does a 10 p.m. set at Bella Italia, 118 E. First St. Bella is one of those after-hours spots; Wine on the Waterfront, the R Bar and Bar N9ne also will have 10 p.m. shows showcasing eight Fuca acts.
Saturday, Kazüm returns to the main stage for one more show at 12:30 p.m.; then a tango workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. at Studio Bob, 118½ E. Front St.
On Sunday the Paperboys, an eclectic band from Vancouver, B.C., takes the main stage at 8:30 p.m.; comedian Toby Hargrave appears at 8 p.m. on the Chamber Stage.
Among many others Monday, Shoehorn Conley tap-dances while playing his saxophone at 2:30 p.m. on the Chamber Stage, and Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks swing onto the main stage for the festival finale at 4 p.m.
If you cannot wait until Friday to begin your festival-going, Poor Man’s Whiskey will do a kickoff concert tonight at the Vern Burton center. Titled “Dark Side of the Moonshine,” the show mixes Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” album with Whiskey’s bluegrass bent at 7:30 p.m.
Invited to dress up
Concert-goers are invited to dress as “The Wizard of Oz” characters, since the band highlights “Moon” lyrics with connections to the classic movie.
Tickets at the door tonight will be $20, or $7 for children 12 and younger.
As for the Fuca itself, single-day passes are $15 Friday and Monday, and $18 Saturday and Sunday.
Full-festival passes are $50 if purchased today; they go up to $55 once the weekend is under way. Day and festival passes include admission to the after-hours concerts in the downtown clubs.
Outlets include Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles; Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St., Sequim; and Quimper Sound, 230 Taylor St., Port Townsend. More information can be found at www.JFFA.org and by phoning 360-457-5411.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
