PORT ANGELES — Even with a low-key Monday, Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts attendance is about the same as past years, festival director Anna Manildi says.
Despite the Hood Canal Bridge closure, Manildi said venues were still full on Saturday and Sunday and were about the same as usual — about three-fourths full — on Friday and Monday.
Because of the closure of the floating bridge for repairs, festival marketing was aimed at North Olympic Peninsula and Victoria residents who don’t need the bridge to come to Port Angeles.
Manildi said no specific ticket sales numbers were available Monday because the machines used to do the reports had broken mid-calculation.
“We had some difficulties, but speaking strictly from observing the venues, I wouldn’t say we have had any less than past years,” she said.
The festival typically draws between 15,000 and 18,000 people.
“And the outdoor vendors — I think they have had more than ever,” she said.
In all, Manildi said she is pleased with the festival’s progress.
One volunteer recounted a story to her in which some high-school-age students were listening to a hip-hop band but were reluctant to dance.
That is until a group of older country music fans who were waiting for the next act got out on the floor and started dancing — hip-hop style.
“That is such the spirit of a festival,” Manildi said, “the mixing of music genres and a little something for everyone.”
Happy audiences
Manildi said that most people seemed happy with the festival, even with a couple of cancellations.
Ivonne Hernandez of Victoria had to cancel because she was stopped at the border.
Hernandez did not carry her P-3 visa, which is required for music performance in the United States, Manildi said.
A student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, her student visa wasn’t enough to let her into the country for a musical performance, Manildi said.
Harry Manx, a festival headliner who plays the Mohan veena, lap steel, harmonica and banjo, hurt his back so his Sunday shows were canceled.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladaily news.com.
