SEQUIM — The 116th Sequim Irrigation Festival celebration begins today with a full weekend of events.
The festival, planned through May 15, will culminate with the Grand Parade, Logging Show and other events next weekend.
Family friendly fun is the focus of the first weekend’s events, which start with the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Sequim today.
The tour will weave through artists’ studios and alternative-art venues from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. A map of the venues is available in the official Sequim Irrigation Festival brochure.
“The art on the town is always a lot of fun,” said Deon Kapetan, event chairwoman.
Also from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. today will be the juried Art Show at the Museum & Arts Center, 175 W. Cedar St.
Sequim Arts, an organization of more than 150 artists living on the Olympic Peninsula, will sponsor its 35th annual Fine Arts Exhibit.
Kids Day
Saturday’s events will be focused primarily on the Kids Day and Family Picnic at Carrie Blake Park.
In addition to a host of family activities — such as softball games, bicycle poker run and a barbecue — special events are planned this year.
‘This year, we’ll have a helicopter landing in the park,” Kapetan said. “We don’t know yet if the kids will be able to get up close and touch it, but the Coast Guard at some point during the day will be landing a helicopter in the park as part of a demonstration.”
The Kids Day will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Family Picnic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“This weekend is really beefed up with kids activities,” Kapetan said. “There is so much to do, and it is all family-friendly.”
Market, crafts fair
Sequim Open Aire Market also will open up at the corner of Washington Street and Sequim Avenue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
“It will just be packed downtown,” Kapetan said. “There will be so much going on and so many things to do.
The Arts and Crafts Fair will be another event — one that Kapetan thought was especially good for Mother’s Day, which is Sunday.
The fair will be at Bell Street between Sequim and Second avenues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ll also have people handing out carnations in celebration of Mother’s Day,” she said.
Bike enthusiasts can visit a Goldwing Motorcycle Display on Saturday at the fair.
The street fair on Washington Street between Sequim and Second avenues is another good place to pick up a last-minute gift for mom, Kapetan said.
The 2011 festival float will be on display.
Opening today will be Sequim High School’s annual operetta.
“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday, as well as May 13, 14, 20 and 21, at Sequim High School, 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Except for tonight, when all tickets are $8 — or $25 for a family — tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for seniors, children and Sequim High School students with student body cards.
Carnival tickets
Kapetan said families preparing for next weekend can pick up carnival tickets now for a reduced price through Wednesday.
“If they don’t purchase those tickets before then, the price goes up from $20 to $25,” she said.
The carnival will begin Thursday and continue through the following Sunday at Sequim High School.
Hours will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Advance tickets are on sale at the Sequim branches of Sound Community Bank and KeyBank, the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center and the KSQM FM 91.5 radio station.
Events next weekend — Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 15 — will include:
■ Crazy Daze Breakfast at 7 a.m. Friday at SunLand Golf & Country Club.
■ Past Royalty Luncheon on Friday.
■ 23rd annual Logging Show from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in the Blake Avenue lot near Carrie Blake Park, with a strongman competition at 6 p.m. Friday, fireworks at dusk Friday and tractor pull and lawn mower races at 11 a.m. Saturday.
■ Kids Parade at 10 a.m. and Car Cruzz at 11 a.m. Saturday in downtown Sequim.
■ Grand Parade at noon Saturday in downtown Sequim.
■ Car Show ‘n’ Shine at noon Saturday in the Walmart parking lot.
For more information about the Sequim Irrigation Festival, visit www.irrigationfestival.com.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
