PORT ANGELES — The Sequim Lavender Weekend, an amalgamation of two competing lavender festivals, will go on later this month — with some improvements, a Sequim city representative told the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Monday.
The weekend of July 20-22 is too important to let the rivalry between the two feuding groups ruin the event for the city and for visitors alike, said Barbara Hanna, director of communications and marketing for the city of Sequim who spoke before about 60 attending the chamber’s weekly luncheon meeting at the Port Angeles Crabhouse restaurant.
“We need to keep visitors in mind, how important they are,” Hanna said.
The two feuding groups split in 2011 and created the competing Sequim Lavender Farm Faire and Heritage Lavender Farm Tour, creating different sets of farms, additional venues — and visitor confusion, Hanna said.
While the two groups never sat down at one table to work out their differences, Hanna and other city leaders were able to broker an agreement to coordinate efforts to make the two festivals work in concert.
That includes clarifying and reducing the number of signs that last year had visitors confused about where to go, she said.
The city will be promoting both festivals with three information kiosks and an “at a glance” map of all of the events, which identifies which activities belong to which festival, Hanna said.
There will also be a loop shuttle, with three buses running constantly during the festival to ease parking congestion at venues within the city.
“It won’t run to the farms,” she said of the shuttle.
There will also be events not associated directly with Lavender Weekend, including concerts to give visitors something to do in the evenings when the farms close.
There is still some lodging available in Sequim, but if visitors wait until the festival weekend there won’t be, said Scott Nagel, producer of the Lavender Farm Festival, who also attended Monday’s Chamber of Commerce meeting.
Some motel rooms in Port Angeles may still be available through early Saturday at noon, Nagel said, but reservations are recommended.
A list of events is available at www.visitsunnysequim.com with links to both festivals and individual websites.
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
