NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, April 15.
FORKS — Rain or shine, two weeks of the 2016 RainFest will begin today with Focus on the Arts followed by River and Ocean Days starting Monday.
The annual festival celebrates the famous West End rain, rainforests, rivers and coast, with family-friendly events such as the Umbrella Parade, a children’s book giveaway, a quilt show and the creation of a community banner.
Focus on the arts this weekend — today, Saturday and Sunday — will feature spinning and weaving, quilting, art displays, dancing, basket weaving and music.
RainFest: River and Ocean Days will center on the area’s rivers and beaches from Monday through Saturday, April 23.
It will include a photography presentation by Ross Hamilton with digital photography tips from Brian Schroeder from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Rainforest Arts Center.
‘Return of the River’
On Thursday will be a 6:30 p.m. showing of “Return of the River,” a documentary by John Gussman of Sequim and Jessica Plumb of Port Townsend that tells of the restoration of the Elwha River. The film will be shown at the arts center.
The Upcycle and Trashion Show will be at the arts center from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. next Friday, April 22, the day before the Washington Coast Cleanup on April 23.
Throughout, Olympic National Park will waive its usual entry fee.
A children’s book giveaway will be held from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday at the Integrated Community Network (ICN) Building, 71 N. Spartan Ave.
The Clallam County Literacy Council is hosting the giveaway.
From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, children will decorate umbrellas for the Umbrella Parade at the ICN Building.
The activity is sponsored by the West Olympic Council of the Arts.
Umbrella Parade
The Umbrella Parade will feature children and adults with decorated umbrellas, as well as galoshes and rain slickers, celebrating the 120 inches or so of rain that fall on Forks each year.
Participants in the Umbrella Parade will gather at 11:45 a.m. Saturday at the ICN Building.
The parade will begin at about noon, with participants splashing through puddles — real or imagined — along Forks Avenue to the Rainforest Arts Center.
This weekend’s RainFest is expected to be celebrated under cloudy skies, with a few showers possible today and Saturday, and temperatures reaching the mid-50s today, mid-60s on Saturday and mid-70s Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
Lissy Andros, executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, has said the rain usually holds off during RainFest weekends.
Dance and music
Saturday will surround the community with music with dance lessons, a music clinic and three concerts.
Free dance classes will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today at Forks Congregational Church, 280 S. Spartan Ave.
Dance classes are sponsored by the Rainforest Council for the Arts.
Forkestra, the Forks community orchestra, will perform from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Forks Library, 171 S. Forks Ave.
Seattle-based Linda Waterfall, an American folk musician and singer-songwriter, will present an hourlong clinic on singing and songwriting from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the arts center, then return to perform in concert from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
A late-night concert will conclude the day with bluegrass offerings from the Loose Gravel Band at Blakeslee’s Bar & Grill, 1222 S. Forks Ave.
Mini-workshops
Two arts and crafts mini-workshop sessions for teens and adults will be held Saturday afternoon at the arts center.
During the first session, from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., John Leavitt will offer tips on how to get the most out of cellphone photography, Jessica Mishler will help people get their creativity on when starting a project and Linda Offutt will teach the basics of creating plarn bags — knit from strips of used plastic bags.
Those who take part in the plarn bag workshop should bring plastic shopping bags and a G size crochet hook.
At the second session, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., Laura Kesey Farrell will give pointers on retouching photos with free smartphone and tablet applications, Jessica Mishler will teach the basics of knitting and spinning, and Linda Offut will continue plarn bag or Trashion “wearable art” projects.
Sunday events
The community weaving and banner project will continue Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon at the arts center.
A fiber arts and spinning circle will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., also at the arts center.
The art show at the arts center and the Fabric of the Forest quilt show at Forks High School will conclude Sunday.
Quilt show
The Fabric of the Forest quilt show, hosted by the Piecemakers Quilt Club and sponsored by the West Olympic Council of the Arts, will feature displays of dozens of quilts, vendors for quilt-making materials and equipment, and quilt technique lectures.
The quilt show and vendors at Forks High School will be open from noon to 6 p.m. today, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Entry to the quilt show is free; donations will be accepted.
Last-minute registration is available for two quilting classes at the Fabric of the Forest Quilt Show today and Saturday.
The two open classes are the “English Ivy” quilt project from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and the “Winter Star” project from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
The cost for each class is $50 and does not include supplies. Classes take place at the Department of Natural Resources office, 411 Tillicum Lane.
Anyone interested in taking the classes should contact Marcia Yanish at 360-327-3770 to check whether openings remain and for the supply list.
Registration forms for the classes and additional information are on the Peacemakers Quilt Club website at www.piecemakersquiltclub.org.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
