Lavender Festival and Quileute Days organizers were pleasantly surprised with the droves of attendees this past weekend.
Sequim Lavender Festival Executive Director Scott Nagel said the festival hit at least the 25,000 to 30,000 who typically attend the event each year.
“With the economy the way it has been, we are so pleased that people recognize that this is one of the premier events of the summer to attend,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t have the totals until later in the week.
The festival drew locals and international guests alike, Nagel said.
“On Sunday, it is always a calmer day,” he said.
“It is more our ‘family’ day.
“A lot of local people come out and bring their families.”
The droves of those seeking the aromatic festival was also evident on U.S. Highway 101 with the traffic often backing up 10 miles or more as people made their way on and off the North Olympic Peninsula.
“The turnout is exactly what we have been hoping for,” Nagel said.
“People are making choices on quality events.”
In LaPush, the final day of Quileute Days wound down with bingo, canoe races and softball.
The tribe estimates that more than 2,000 people attended the weekend event.
“I think that is a conservative estimate,” tribal publicist Jackie Jacobs said.
“On Friday night, there were record numbers of people attending the street dance.”
Specific numbers won’t become available because the event is not ticketed and attendees are free to arrive and leave as they choose.
The event was especially popular this year because of the attendance of Solomon Trimble, an actor in the box office hit “Twilight.”
In the movie, Trimble plays a Quileute boy who gives the main character Bella Swan a hint that something is amiss with her crush Edward Cullen, who turns out to be a vampire.
“Everyone adored Solomon — he is an amazing human being,” Jacobs said.
She said the tribe was pleased with the turnout.
“Everything was really amazing, and the tribe was thrilled to share its culture with everyone,” she said.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
