SEQUIM — Here are two rules for Lavender Festival enjoyment: Ride the free shuttle and remember to relax.
The festival truly is simple: A $10 ticket covers admission to the street fair and eight lavender farms, plus unlimited rides on all shuttle buses. Children 12 and younger get in free to all events.
Free parking is abundant near the shuttle stops: in the JC Penney lot at 651 W. Washington St., at QFC at 990 E. Washington St., and in school parking lots near the street fair on Fir Street near North Sequim Avenue.
A free trolley can pick you up from the fair and take you to Sequim’s downtown core, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Another shuttle ferries people between the street fair and the QFC and JC Penney lots from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
Yet another fleet of buses stops on Alder Street between Second and Third Avenue to bring people to and from the farms, from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on all three days of the festival.
Each bus goes to two farms, so look for the signs that tell you which one is headed where.
Distinct personality
Each lavender farm has its own personality, said festival publicist Brigid Woodland.
“Pick up a festival program and see which farm suits you best,” she advised. “Then sit back and enjoy that.”
Each one — Angel, Cedarbrook, Purple Haze, Port Williams, Olympic Lavender, Sunshine Herb & Lavender, Jardin du Soleil, Lost Mountain — has live music, demonstrations, food and art vendors.
Don’t try to see everything.
Do linger at the lavender farm you like, Woodland emphasized. Less driving means more relaxation.
And if you don’t quite have your fill today or Saturday, your festival button is good Sunday, too.
“A lot of the farms are open throughout the lavender season” into August, added Woodland.
Where to buy buttons
Festival buttons are on sale and volunteers are dispensing information at the east and west ends of the Fir Street fair; at the farm tour bus stop on Alder at Second Avenue; at the Sequim Visitor Information Center on East Washington Street near Rhodefer Road; and at all eight farms on the tour.
Retailers such as Port Book & News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles, and Hurricane Coffee, at the corner of Sequim Avenue and Washington Street, also have festival tickets for sale.
This is not a contest to see who can visit the most farms, Woodland said.
If there’s a goal here, it is to “have something to eat and drink, and listen to music,” all of which are plentiful at the eight tour farms and the street fair.
