PORT ANGELES — Part concert series and part street fair, the 21st annual Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts opens tonight with a “Wizard of Oz” costume party-concert, featuring the music of Pink Floyd.
The concert and party with a “Wizard of Oz” theme will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Vern Burton Community Center’s main festival stage, 308 E. Fourth St.
Entry to the concert is $20 at the door. Four-day weekend festival passes are available for $70.
Tonight’s party is the first of five days of events that will continue through Monday at the Vern Burton center and the Elks Naval Lodge at 131 E. First St. throughout the day and evening.
Festival after-hours venues — with shows beginning at 10:30 p.m. — will be Bar N9ne, 229 W. First St.; Barhop Brewing, 124 W. Railroad Ave.; and Next Door Gastropub, 113 W. First St.
At tonight’s party, the California festival band Poor Man’s Whiskey will perform its bluegrass-flavored cover set, titled “Dark Side of the Moonshine,” as the classic film starring Judy Garland is shown as a backdrop.
The match between the music of Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, “Dark Side of the Moon,” and the visual storytelling of the classic “Wizard of Oz” film was first noted in the press by the Fort Wayne [Ind.] Journal Gazette in 1995 and has a growing following, said Dan Maguire, festival director.
When the sound from the film is turned off and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album is played, the music closely matches the emotions and events onscreen.
Even Turner Movie Classics cable channel has aired a version of the film and music edited together, Maguire said.
“Some people say it’s really uncanny. It has become a huge phenomenon,” Maguire said of the match between the movie and the music.
Partygoers are urged to dress as their favorite “Wizard of Oz” character.
A prize will be offered for the best costume, he said, although what it will be had not been determined as of Wednesday.
The festival’s free street fair, the “Garden of Earthly Delights,” will open Friday outside the Vern Burton Community Center.
It will include a variety of food and art vendors along with open-air free music performances.
The fair will be open from noon to 7 p.m. Friday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday.
Artisans, including a new custom tie-dye clothing maker, PureIntent, and local potter Toby Merrill, will be located in the parking lot at the corner of West Fourth and Peabody streets, said Marcie Miller, street fair coordinator.
Food and commercial vendors will be located on West Fourth Street.
For more information on the Juan de Fuca Festival, visit www.jffa.org or see Friday’s Peninsula Spotlight, the Peninsula Daily News’ weekly entertainment magazine.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
