SEQUIM — Although the Sequim Lavender Festival doesn’t officially start until 11 a.m. Friday, visitors have already started showing up at local lavender farms and crowding area hotels.
Now comes the flood.
About 30,000 people are expected to visit the Sequim-Dungeness Valley area this weekend and hopefully spend more than last year’s estimated $2.5 million in gross festival sales.
Visitors will be drawn by a celebration of a beautiful, flowering plant that can be used in cooking and soaps and oils, to repel insects, to help relax with and to create a decorative flower arrangement.
This is the ninth year for the festival, which runs through Sunday. It offers a street fair, farm tour, golf tournament and conference on lavender topics.
“The format of the festival is the same,” said Scott Nagel, the festival’s executive director for the second year in a row.
“The special part of this is the farms. They’re always changing.”
More than 110 vendors
The Street Fair will be in downtown Sequim on Fir Street between Second and Third avenues.
More than 110 vendors from across the Northwest will offer lavender products and arts and crafts. There will also be food vendors and a wine and beer garden.
Admission to the Street Fair is free, and free parking is available.
Opening ceremonies will take place at 11 a.m. Friday on the Street Fair Stage.
Admission to the tour of lavender farms requires a button, which costs $10 and is available from booths at the Street Fair, the Sequim Chamber of Commerce and at the entrances to individual farms. Children under 12 are admitted free.
Parking is available at the participating farms, and free shuttle buses will provide transportation from the Street Fair.
Each farm will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and will offer workshops, demonstrations, food, arts and crafts, and entertainment.
