SEQUIM — Lavender’s pungent aroma was the sweet smell of success Sunday as the 2006 Sequim Lavender Festival set a new attendance record.
About 35,000 people visited the three-day jubilee of purple plants, said Scott Nagel, the floral frolic’s executive director.
More than 15,000 people bought buttons good for a tour of eight lavender farms, he said.
“This is the biggest and best festival we’ve ever had,” Nagel said as the celebration ended.
“We’ve had more people than ever.
“The farms were especially beautiful this year. For the 10th anniversary, people went all out to make their farms really beautiful.”
Up by 10,000
A year ago, Nagel estimated, 25,000 people attended the Lavender Festival, their numbers thinned by a rainy first day.
This year, the weather served up a chilly Saturday.
“A cloud seemed to hang over Sequim,” Nagel said — but it may have boosted attendance.
“We were better off,” he explained. “When it gets too hot, really big crowds of people get exhausted.”
It wasn’t possible to estimate how much money people spent, Nagel said, because the fair was spread out across nine venues — the central Fir Street fair plus vendors and entertainers at each of the eight farms.
“It’s a festival with nine stages,” he said.
Nagel estimated that about 100 sellers set up at the farms besides the 150 booths at the Fir Street fair.
“The vendors and all the farms have reported volumes over and above the previous year,” he said.
