SEQUIM — This town’s 115-year-old party is the longest-running festival in Washington, and this time around, the Sequim Irrigation Festival seeks to be more inclusive than ever.
“The permits are done, the volunteers are doing their jobs . . . now I want you all to come have fun,” festival chairman Joe Borden said earlier this week to a gathering of Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce members.
“We couldn’t do it without you,” added Borden, who is also a recipient of the 2010 Clallam County Community Service Award.
Looking at the three dozen Irrigation Festival-related events, one could say the party is overflowing, with activities this weekend and next.
They range from Kids Day on Saturday and the Funtastic Carnival on Thursday through next Saturday, May 8, to the Loggers Ball next Friday, May 7.
That’s a new event this year: the Loggers Ball is a free dance with three live-music suppliers: The Army Band, the Washington Old Time Fiddlers and Robbie Walden & the Gunslingers.
The bands will start at 8 p.m. alongside the Logging Show on the Blake family property, which is just south of Carrie Blake Park on Blake Avenue.
Fireworks display
Dancers can take a break to watch the Irrigation Festival’s fireworks show, which will start around 9:30 p.m., over the Blake field, and last 45 minutes to an hour, Borden said.
Last Monday night, longtime Sequim resident Mary Bell spoke to the Sequim City Council about that event to “express concern on behalf of numerous dog owners.”
The pyrotechnics upset many a pet, Bell said, adding they may also traumatize horses.
“The money spent [on the fireworks] is being blown up unnecessarily,” she said. Bell believes that money would be better used for other community needs.
“Fireworks have been part of festivals for a lot of years,” Borden said in response. He added he understands and sympathizes with pet owners, though.
“My own dogs don’t like it. But it’s an event a majority of the community enjoys,” said the longtime festival chief.
Festival organizers added fireworks to the Logging Show in 2008, to celebrate that event’s 20th anniversary, and since then Borden and his crew have sought to give residents plenty of notice leading to the Friday night display.
This year’s show will cost $6,000, Borden said.
This weekend
The festival’s first weekend features events all over the city.
• At Carrie Blake Park, 202 N. Blake Ave., the Family Picnic runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, with Jeremiah’s BBQ and Westside Pizza among the purveyors, and Kids Day is part of it from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
That free event promises the Touch-A-Truck display, face painting, bounce houses, models, crafts, dancers and musicians from the Aspire Academy and the Happy Tymer clowns.
Volunteers with the nonprofit radio station, KSQM FM 91.5 will offer a Jeremiah’s BBQ Pulled Pork Meal Deal during the picnic as a fundraiser for the station.
Tickets are $8 in advance at selected locations and at KSQM, 755 W. Washington St., Sequim, or $10 at the picnic.
• In downtown Sequim on Saturday, the festival’s Arts and Crafts Fair and a Gold Wing motorcycle display will set up on Bell Street just west of Sequim Avenue, and the Merchants Street Fair will set up on Washington Street between Sequim and Second avenues.
Both fairs run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. A maypole dance will start at noon amid the arts-and-crafts booths on Bell Street.
• The Gold Wing Touring Association Drill Team will perform at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Sequim Bible Church, 847 N. Sequim Ave., in another event that’s new this year.
• On Sunday, the Arts and Crafts Fair will continue, with vendors and live entertainment on Bell Street from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Next Thursday
Festivities gather speed again Thursday, with the Funtastic Carnival from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Fir Street field west of Sequim High School.
The carnival’s rides, games and food booths will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, May 7, and from noon until 5 p.m. Saturday, May 8.
“Into the Woods” is the operetta for this year’s festival, and it will start at 4 p.m. Thursday in the high school auditorium, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Tickets for opening day are $7.
The Stephen Sondheim musical, which blends fairy tales about Cinderella, Rapunzel and others into a comic landscape, will then take the stage at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 7-8, as well as May 14-15, with tickets at the door priced at $10 for adults or $8 for seniors, Sequim High School Associated Student Body card holders and children 12 and younger.
Sequim Arts’ juried show and sale will fill the St. Luke’s Parish Hall, 525 N. Fifth Ave., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through next Saturday, May 8, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 9; admission is free.
Next Friday, May 7
The Crazy Daze breakfast, so named for the wacky costumes many wear to it, is set for 7 a.m. Friday, May 7, at the Sequim Elks Club, 143 Port Williams Road. Guests are invited to come in costume or just enjoy others’ get-ups.
Admission is $10 at the door.
The First Friday Art Walk stars local artists displaying paintings, sculptures and mixed media at numerous downtown Sequim galleries, shops and restaurants from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 7.
Admission is free and many venues serve hors d’oeuvres and beverages.
The Logging Show, Truck & Tractor Pull and Strongman Competition will take on the Blake family property south of Carrie Blake Park on Blake Avenue that night.
The Logging Show will run from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., while the strongmen and -women will flip tires, stack stones and pull trucks from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is by donation.
The Loggers Ball brings the Army Band, the Washington Old Time Fiddlers and Robbie Walden & the Gunslingers to the Logging Show at 8 p.m. Friday, May 7.
Admission is free, and boots, suspenders and plaid shirts are encouraged.
The festival fireworks display will start around 9:30 p.m. that night over the Blake Avenue field.
Next Saturday, May 8
Grand Parade day, Saturday, May 8, will begin with a pancake breakfast from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Sequim Senior Activity Center, 921 E. Hammond St., just north of the QFC on East Washington Street.
Tickets at the door are $5, or free for children younger than 5.
The Sequim Open Aire Market will set up its first spread of the season on Cedar Street just west of Sequim Avenue, with dozens of local art, food and fresh produce vendors beckoning from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Logging Show and Truck & Tractor Pull will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 8, next to Carrie Blake Park, with lawn mower races and many other events plus food and crafts.
KSQM FM 91.5 and the Shriners will host lunch, with all-you-can-eat hot dogs, chili dogs and ice cream from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Masonic Lodge, South Fifth Avenue at Pine Street.
Tickets are $10 for adults or $5 for kids 12 and younger. Proceeds benefit KSQM, Sequim’s nonprofit radio station.
The annual salmon barbecue to benefit Trinity United Methodist Church’s community programs will be open to the public from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the church, 100 S. Blake Ave., next to the Logging Show. Complete meals are $12 for adults or $4 for children younger than 13.
The Lo-co Motion Cruzz Car Parade will roll downtown from Evergreen Collision Repair at 703 E. Washington St. to Washington and Seventh Avenue starting at 11 a.m.
From noon to 5 p.m., the Lo-co Motion Show’n’Shine will fill the Walmart parking lot at Washington Street and River Road.
The Irrigation Festival Grand Parade will start flowing west down Washington Street at noon, proceeding from the Dunlap Avenue corner to Seventh Avenue.
Spectators can expect more than 100 floats, festival queens and princesses from around the state, marching bands and other entries.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
