NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, May 9.
SEQUIM –– Princesses, monster trucks and loggers will take over the final weekend of the 119th Sequim Irrigation Festival today through Sunday — although not at the same time.
Royalty for Washington’s longest continuing festival will sit atop Guy Horton’s rolling re-creation of the Dungeness Valley, which exemplifies the “Mountains to Sea . . . A Pristine Place to Be” theme of this year’s celebration, during the Grand Parade, which highlights a wild weekend of events, at noon Saturday.
Carrying Queen Katey Tapia and Princesses Judi Villella, Kaylee Ditlefsen and Kristina Holtrop, the float was awarded the spirit award in Tacoma’s Daffodil Parade last month.
“It was a good first outing,” said Deon Kapetan, director of the Irrigation Festival.
“I know we’re all real excited to bring it back home.”
Joining the royal court in the parade through downtown Sequim will be Grand Marshals Gary and Jan Smith, Grand Pioneers Jack Stevens and Dorothy Daniels Ludke, Honorary Pioneers Mabel Sorensen and Glen Greathouse, and junior royalty from Helen Haller and Greywolf elementary schools, as well as dozens of floats, marching bands and classic cars from around the state.
The parade will snake its way down Washington Street beginning at noon, moving westward from Dunlap Avenue to Seventh Avenue.
Sound Community Bank and the city are asking parade-goers to bring jars of peanut butter to be collected along the parade route for donation to the Sequim Food Bank.
Logging Show
A rugged roster of events will take over the Blake Avenue lot south of Carrie Blake Park today and Saturday.
Loggers, lifters and lawn mowers will try to top each other for the Logging Show, Truck and Tractor Pull, and Strongman Showdown.
New events this year include monster truck rides for young logging show fans, demonstrations of the “lost art” of log rolling and an old-time steam donkey that will skid logs throughout the Logging Show, co-organizer Kevin Kennedy said.
“She smokes and stinks and just chugs along,” Kennedy said of the steam donkey.
“It’s going to be a good old-time logging feel down there.”
The 26th edition of the Logging Show begins today with chain-saw carving from noon to 7 p.m.
The Tractor Pull and Mud Buggies will be presented in the evening, with the show open until 10 p.m.
The beer garden will open at 4 p.m., and live county music will begin at 8 p.m.
Fireworks will blow up in the sky over the “Blue Hole” after the sun goes down tonight, likely at about 9:30 p.m.
The Logging Show opens at 10 a.m. Saturday and goes on in earnest at 2 p.m., with contestants vying for the tops spots in ax throwing, pole climbing, hand bucking and more, including pole falling.
“Some of the best in the Northwest,” Kennedy said of the roster of competitive loggers coming to Sequim.
Lawn mower races
Some 25 lawn mower races will whip around the field for races starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, and souped-up trucks from all over the Northwest will begin the tractor pull at noon.
Strong men will compete in the Strongman Showdown from 6 to 8 tonight.
They will toss kegs, tote stones and press unconscionable amounts of weight to see who is the strongest in Sequim.
Logging Show events are free, but donations are encouraged.
Other events
Throughout the festival, a carnival will keep everyone whipped into shape in the Fir Street field west of the Sequim High School at 601 N. Sequim Ave.
Davis Shows Northwest’s carnival, which opened Thursday, will operate from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. today, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
A golf tournament is set today.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula will host the 23rd annual Golf Tournament at SunLand Golf & Country Club, 109 Hilltop Drive, with a 1:30 p.m. shotgun start in the four-person scramble.
The entry fee is $100 and includes the round, time on the practice range and a commemorative cap.
To register, visit www.bgc-op.org or phone 360-683-8095.
The Sequim Juried Art Show, which opened May 2, will continue through Sunday at the Bell Creek Plaza at Blake and Washington streets.
The show opens each day at 10 a.m. and goes on until 5 p.m. today and Saturday. It closes at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The Dungeness River Center Fun Run will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, taking off down the Grand Parade route.
Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. for the 5K run out and back from the J.C. Penney parking lot at Seventh Avenue and Washington Street.
Participants can sign up online at http://tinyurl.com/pdn-dungenessfunrun.
The cost is $20 plus a $2.50 sign-up fee.
The Thunder Roll Car Cruzz will roll down Washington Street starting at 10:45 a.m. Saturday and end at the Walmart parking lot, 1110 W. Washington St., for a car show from noon to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit www.irrigationfestival.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
