NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, March 18.
PORT TOWNSEND — The 20th annual Victorian Heritage Festival taking place this weekend refocuses a romanticized era and puts it into a modern perspective.
“The festival really does cement Port Townsend’s identity as a place with Victorian roots and an interesting history,” said Mari Mullen, executive director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program.
“People who are new here and move here are always curious about the past and what used to be in a particular building.”
The festival will be today through Sunday in and around locations downtown and uptown.
It is the fifth and final year the festival is being presented under the auspices of Olympic Peninsula Steam, which added a common, rowdy touch to the annual festival.
The festival faces an uncertain yet exciting future, Mullen said.
“We are not sure which entity will take it on and give it a new twist, but it has a long history that we will continue,” she said.
Ticket prices
Ticket prices vary. Early bird tickets admitting the holder to festival lectures, demonstrations and exhibitions is $15, with those 18 and younger and students with school identification admitted free.
Fees for the Victorian High Teas — which are planned both Saturday and Sunday — tours, the Victoria Ball, a contra dance and museum entry are extra.
Tours
The Jefferson County Historical Society offers walking tours of uptown and downtown.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children age 3-12. The tours are free to members of the historical society. Reservations are not required.
The uptown tour is at 2 p.m. today. Participants meet at the Rothschild House museum at Taylor and Franklin streets.
The downtown tour is at noon Sunday. Participants meet at the Jefferson County Museum at 540 Water St.
For more information or to purchase advance tickets, call 360-385-1003.
The Port Townsend Main Street Program Design Committee is coordinating Insider’s Historic Building Tours on Sunday.
The Up and Down Tour will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants will meet at the Fire Bell Tower at Jefferson and Tyler streets.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children 3 to 12 years old; youngsters must be accompanied by parents.
The 100,000 + Square Feet of History Tours are $15 each for adults and $5 for youths age 3-12.
The tours are at 1:30 p.m., one leaving from 250 Madison St. and the other from the Hastings Building, 120 Taylor St.
Tickets are “will call.” To order, see www.vicfest.org/tix.php.
Today
Museums will be open from noon to 4 p.m.
A free Shanty Sing is planned at 7 p.m. in the corner room of the Hastings Building at the corner of Taylor and Water streets followed by a pub crawl to sooth sung-out throats.
Saturday
General admission will cover Saturday’s exhibitions at the American Legion Hall at 209 Monroe St. and presentations at the Cotton Building at 607 Water St.
The Victorian Festival’s Exhibition Hall at the Legion Hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
It will offer hands-on and up-close exploration of canning, firearms, spinning and weaving, treadle sewing machine use, camping on the frontier, military traditions and equipment and handmade rope.
At the Cotton Building will be a series of presentations.
A Victorian Home Restoration Panel will speak at 10 a.m.
Each member of the panel has restored one of Port Townsend’s Victorian homes. They will describe their projects and be available for questions.
At 11 a.m., Valarie LaBore will tell of the proper way to wear a watch in Victorian times.
At noon, veteran re-enactors will tell what they have learned through their love of history.
A panel discussion on “Victorian Hunting Pastimes in Field, Forest and Plain” will begin at 1 p.m.
At 2 p.m. will be “The Importance of Music in the Victorian Era,” which will feature the clarinet quartet Toot Sweet playing a selection of music spanning the Victorian era — from Brahms’ Hungarian Dances to turn-of-the-century Joplin rags.
It also will include a sing-along with Gay ’90s popular music hall songs.
At 3 p.m. will be a presentation on corsets.
From 10 a.m. to noon will be the Kids’ Victorian Play Day, a free event in Pope Marine Park, where children 3 and older can join such games as a potato race, hoop and stick, and quoits.
Children younger than 9 should be accompanied by adults.
At 4:30 p.m. will be a show of men’s and women’s fashions at First Presbyterian Church, 1111 Franklin St. Admission will be by donation.
At the Victorian Ball, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at the American Legion Hall, participants in Victorian attire will show off their dance quadrilles, polkas and even a waltz.
The ball will segue into a contra dance at about 9 p.m. This dance reflects another side of Victorian life, the dance of the people, organizers said.
For the complete schedule and list of activities and events for the Victorian Festival, visit www.vicfest.org.
For a complete list of presentations, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-presentations.
Tickets for all events are available at www.vicfest.org/tix.php.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
