SEQUIM — The heavily attended, eighth annual Lavender Festival isn’t scheduled to begin until Friday, but don’t tell that to delighted merchants or owners of restaurants and hotels who have been hosting hundreds of early visitors for several days.
Early birds tromping through the Dungeness Valley’s lavender farms have to stay and eat somewhere, and their patronage is a windfall for several businesses who count on the three-day festival for a significant portion of their annual sales.
This year, it seems, the crowds are showing up earlier than ever.
“Oh, definitely. All week, it’s just been major,” said Brandy Salmon, owner of Petals Garden Cafe in south Sequim.
“Last year it almost like a pregnancy. There was almost a lull before we got busy,” Salmon said.
“But people are, I think, getting used to the fact that it’s always the third weekend in July.”
There are by some estimates upwards of 30,000 people who are getting used to the highly touted festival, recognized by tourism officials as the most profitable on the North Olympic Peninsula.
