PORT ANGELES — Sweaters from Ecuador, blackberry cheesecake ice cream, Joy in Mudville: They’re coexisting indoors and out as the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts continues through Monday.
“I like the local flair, the sense of community,” Charlie Lyons of Port Angeles said while seated with his daughter Iris, 10, on the main drag of the festival Saturday afternoon.
That would be the free Street Fair, where five dozen art, clothing and food vendors are set up around the Vern Burton Community Center at Fourth and Peabody streets.
The Saturday afternoon sky was a light gray, but the on-street display of color was bright: Indian Arts, an importer of woolly wraps and wooden percussion instruments from South America, was among the many vendors of vivid wares.
Olympic Mountain Ice Cream was doing fine, too — “as long as it doesn’t rain,” said co-owner Justin Strickland — scooping salted caramel, mint chocolate chip and peanut butter pie cups and cones.
The Street Fair is open Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Monday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with children’s entertainment in the Turtle Theater tent Sunday only.
Alleyoop, aka Al Hirsch, tells stories and sings songs in his shows Sunday at noon, 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Joy in Mudville is among the local acts on the festival schedule of 30 performances between Sunday and Monday.
The rock-Americana-bluegrass band, featuring Jason Mogi and Kim Trenerry, will be on the Chamber Stage adjacent to the Vern Burton at 3 p.m. Sunday and 3:45 p.m. Monday.
A cross-section of Sunday’s musical offerings: contra dance lessons and the Odd Hack Band at 2:15 p.m., swing dance lessons with Hot Club Sandwich at 4:45 p.m. and a tango class with California’s Redwood Tango Ensemble at 7 p.m.
All three sessions are at the Masonic Lodge, 622 S. Lincoln St.
Sunday night on the Vern Burton’s main stage, the March Fourth band from Portland, Ore., a big band with a brass section and stilt walkers, steps up at 8:30 p.m.
Over on the Chamber Stage, the rock ‘n’ blues band PufnStuff plays at 6:45 p.m., followed by Port Townsend magician Joey Pipia at 8 p.m.
Single-day tickets are $30 on Sunay and $20 Monday, available at the Vern Burton; as is traditional, children 12 and younger are admitted free.
Later Sunday, the last set of Juan de Fuca After Hours shows will begin at 10:30 p.m.
These performances, included with a festival ticket, bring Rose’s Pawn Shop, a rock and Americana outfit, to the Metta Room, 132 E. Front St., and Blaze & Kelly, a folk-harmonies duo, to Kokopelli Grill, 203 E. Front St.
The festival’s final day is Blues Monday, with at least six shades of blue.
The half-dozen groups to play the Vern Burton stage include the Stacy Jones Band at 12:30 p.m., David Jacobs-Strain and Bob Beach at 2:15 p.m., and, for the 4 p.m. finale, Curtis Salgado and his band.
On the snug Chamber Stage, it’s FarmStrong at 12:45 p.m., PufnStuff at 2:15 p.m. and Joy in Mudville at 3:45 p.m.
Abundant information about performers, stages, start times and the Street Fair is in the festival program, available at all of the venues.
The festival website is also a resource at www.JFFA.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
HERE IS OUR FRIDAY STORY ON THE FESTIVAL:
PORT ANGELES — Whether you want to do the Argentine tango, try a contra dance, learn the swing or try a little of everything, this holiday weekend’s Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts is here for you.
And besides some 80 performances and six stages open to pass holders, there are free outdoor events, including shows for children in the Turtle Tent, a New Orleans-style parade and the 60-vendor Street Fair.
This is the 22nd annual Juan de Fuca Festival, opening at noon today at and around the Vern Burton Community Center, its hub at Fourth and Peabody streets, and running through Memorial Day on Monday.
The free Street Fair is a spread of art, gifts and sustenance from vendors such as Bangkok Bistro, Maggie May’s Espresso and Olympic Mountain Ice Cream.
It attracts about 15,000 people over the four-day event, said Dan Maguire, the festival’s executive director.
The fair stays open until 7 tonight. Its hours are from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday.
This year, a beer and wine garden is part of the fair, as is an audience-participation parade Saturday.
The Transcendental Brass Band from Portland, Ore., will strike up at noon out in front of the Vern Burton, inviting everyone to join in and let the good times roll.
For kids, storyteller-puppeteer-singer Alleyoop, also known as Al Hirsch, will set up the Turtle Theater tent.
Yes, it’s a roomy turtle-shaped tent in the Vern Burton’s front yard, where he’ll do four free shows both Saturday and Sunday: at noon, 1:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
The Juan de Fuca Festival tradition is a family-friendly one, with free admission for children 12 and younger.
But it has its grown-up attractions, too, including blues, bluegrass, Americana, jazz, folk, funk and rock ‘n’ roll from across North America.
Nearly 40 groups will step onto festival stages between 5 p.m. today and 5 p.m. Monday.
A full-festival pass, at $70, covers everything indoors: the shows at the main Vern Burton venue; intimate concerts at the adjacent Chamber Stage; tango, swing and contra dance lessons at the Masonic Lodge, 622 S. Lincoln St.; and more shows at the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St.
Tonight, Saturday and Sunday night bring After Hours shows — at 10:30 p.m. — at Kokopelli Grill, 203 E. Front St., and the Metta Room, 132 E. Front St.
Single-day tickets are available, too, at $25 for today, $30 each for Saturday and Sunday, and $20 for Monday’s shows.
All tickets are sold at the Vern Burton and via www.JFFA.org.
Maguire, who has spent the past seven months booking these acts, aims for a festival of discovery.
Come for the bands you’ve not heard of yet, he advises; that’s the spirit of the thing.
The Everyone Orchestra, a big band billed as an “improvisational musical adventure” from Portland, Ore., is one of the six acts performing tonight.
Saturday brings soul singer LeRoy Bell, the Redwood Tango Ensemble from California and Eric and Encarnación’s Flamenco Duo from Spain via Seattle.
Festival-goers of a certain age will recognize It’s a Beautiful Day, the San Francisco band famed for its 1969 hit “White Bird.”
The group, led by David LaFlamme, will bring its classic cuts and new music to the Vern Burton at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
Local bands are many, too: FarmStrong, the Robin Bessier Trio, Joy in Mudville, PufnStuff, Twisted Roots and Hot Club Sandwich will take the stages tonight through Monday.
Also in tonight’s lineup are the Dusty 45s, a nationally known roots-rock band based in Seattle.
Billy Joe Huels, the band’s horn player, singer and songwriter, likes to light his trumpet on fire — turning it into “a big Zippo lighter,” as he calls it.
Aside from the blazing music, “there are no explosions involved,” Huels said, adding that he’s had no mishaps since launching the horn-aflame technique back when the Dusty 45s were brand-new in 1997.
The quartet will take the stage at 6:30 tonight at the Vern Burton for its first set; then it’s on to the Metta Room for a Festival After Hours set starting at 10:30 p.m. — and “it’s more than just great music. The band’s very engaging,” Huels said.
That’s the feeling Maguire is going for with the whole Juan de Fuca experience.
The festival is considerably smaller than many on the West Coast, so venues are less crowded and performers are seen out mingling with the audience.
For plentiful details about the performers, start times, venues and Street Fair, see the Juan de Fuca Festival program available outside the Vern Burton and at the festival’s downtown venues. Information also awaits at www.JFFA.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
