PORT ANGELES — Shopping for the essentials — food, clothing and music — is especially diverse right now in Port Angeles, what with one of the biggest events of the year finishing up today.
The 22nd annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts wraps around the Vern Burton Community Center at Fourth and Peabody streets from 11 a.m. until around 5 p.m. this evening, with the free Street Fair, a Memorial Day observance and six sets of performers from across the Pacific Northwest.
The fair, with its 60 vendors of tie-dyed and Bohemian clothing, Hawaiian-barbecued lunch, ice cream, Thai stir-fry and other treats, is one Jeri Hansen has been coming to for a couple of decades now.
The owner of Creature Comforts in Hansville, she trades with women artisans in Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal and India to bring dresses, tunics, scarves, jewelry and candy-colored skirts to the festival.
“I like the whole feeling of it,” said Hansen, whose smile shone while she arranged the swaths of batik skirts and blouses around the front of her booth.
Among the admirers of her wares was the Figgins family from Federal Way: Ellie, 6, Charlotte, 4, and their mother, Deb. Mom had done well at the Street Fair on Sunday, finding skirts for dancing, an armload of children’s books at Usborne Books and anklets with bells for her girls, “so I can find them,” she said.
The Street Fair also is the gateway to the Vern Burton’s main stage, where several events will take place this afternoon.
First comes the Memorial Day reflection from Betsy Reed Schultz, founder of Captain Joseph House, a Port Angeles refuge currently under development for families of fallen service members.
Schultz will step up onto the Vern Burton stage at noon to talk about the meaning of the holiday.
Musically, the festival is presenting Blues Monday, a feast of country blues, rhythm and blues, and acoustic and electric blues from bands known locally and internationally.
At the Vern Burton, the Stacy Jones Band from Seattle starts things off at 12:30 p.m.; David Jacobs-Strain from Eugene, Ore., follows at 2:15 p.m. and Carlos Salgado and his band from Portland, Ore., deliver the finale at 3:45 p.m.
At the adjacent Chamber Stage are three more performances: FarmStrong from Sequim will get playing at 12:45 p.m.; Port Angeles’ PufnStuff, with Mike Pace and Ches Ferguson on guitars, is next up at 2:15 p.m.; then Joy in Mudville of Port Angeles gives the last Chamber Stage concert of the festival at 3:45 p.m.
While admission is free to the Street Fair, tickets, at $20, are needed to get into the Vern Burton Community Center and Chamber Stage.
They’re available just inside the Vern Burton, while more information about the Juan de Fuca Festival can be found at www.JFFA.org — and in the festival programs abundant on the festival grounds.
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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.
