PORT ANGELES — Songwriters. Tango dancers. A comedian, a poet, more dancers, singers and players: They all add up to the second annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts Talent Show on Saturday.
It’s a showcase and a competition, with some 25 acts leaping onto and off of the stage for five-minute performances at the Port Angeles Senior & Community Center, 328 E. Seventh St.
Starting time is 1 p.m. Saturday.
Admission is free to the three-and-a-half-hour show, and spectators can come and go all afternoon, said Dan Maguire, executive director of the Juan de Fuca Festival.
The top performer in Saturday’s talent show will win a $100 honorarium plus a slot on the main stage of the festival, which takes place in and around downtown Port Angeles over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28.
Show entrants include children such as musicians Zoe and Celeste Tucker of Port Angeles and the Black Diamond Fiddle Kids, as well as full-grown, well-known bands and duos such as Dave and Rosalie Secord.
Comic Michael Schmidt is also among the competitors, as are tango dancers and instructors Cliff Coulter and Becky Hall.
Bill Tiderman, guitarist in the Port Angeles rock ’n’ roll band BBR, will serve as master of ceremonies.
“We’ve got some great talent on the Peninsula. This is our community event, so come and be part of that,” said Maguire.
Some of the artists don’t often get to perform for the public, he added.
“It’s nice to support them, and give them credit for getting out there.”
Last year, at the first Juan de Fuca Festival Talent Show, then-13-year-old Elise Beuke of Sequim wowed the crowd, accompanying herself on the grand piano as she sang an original song.
She went on to win first prize: a performance at 2011’s Juan de Fuca Festival.
At this year’s talent show, a three-judge panel, composed of festival board president Martha Hastings and board members Amelia Andaleon and Kayla Oakes, will choose the winner.
To learn more about the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, which will also present the internationally known band Playing for Change at Peninsula College’s Little Theater on March 17 and folk icon Arlo Guthrie at the Port Angeles High School Auditorium on April 15, visit www.JFFA.org, find the festival on Facebook or phone 360-457-5411.
