By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – In terms of public events, this spring and summer will look a whole lot like there never was a 2-year pandemic.
Here in Port Angeles, we have the Chamber Luncheons starting up again on April 13 at the Red Lion Hotel, with City Manager Nathan West presenting the State of the City.
Jazz in the Olympics returns in April on the 22nd and 23rd after a more than ten-year hiatus, with the headliner Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appearing at 7 Cedars Resort. Leslie Robertson, Events Manager for the Chamber of Commerce says, now that the Chamber has taken it over the festival, they’re going to start small.
“You know, when we originally talked about it, we talked about a much bigger festival, which we do hope to grow. And that’s our goal is to have it be, you know, multiple venues, but we’ve learned from experience. It’s good to start small and just do it really well. Right? And then, once you have a successful one under your belt, then you can grow it. And that’s our goal for this one.”
In May, the Chamber will host the second Big Spring Spruce Up, the volunteer downtown cleanup event. That’s on May 7, and this year will include an outdoor lunch celebration and concert.
But the big event in May is Irrigation Festival in Sequim, May 7th through the 15th, and they are bringing back a full festival including the Logging Show and the Grand Parade.
In June, The Port Angeles Maritime Festival after a 2-year break. That’s on the weekend of the 11th and 12th at the City Pier.
The 4th of July Celebration downtown Port Angeles will look just like the old days again, with the return of the community parade, vendors, and what’s being described as a significantly improved fireworks show over Port Angeles Harbor. Sequim will also host fireworks show at Carrie Blake Park.
Also returning in July is Sequim’s Lavender Weekend in all its glory. Although, the farms were open for business last summer, and Sequim Marketing Director Barb Hanna says tourism in general was not hit as hard as some might think.
“We actually did pretty well, and I think it’s because Sequim and the Olympic Peninsula in general, fared really well because we have so much outdoor recreation for folks that it was a place where people really felt safe to come and you know, spread out. And I know the cities, the large cities, I think we’re hit a lot harder than we were as a rural outdoor area.”
But maybe the cancellation that hurt the most, for locals anyway, was the Clallam County Fair. So, you’ll be glad to know it is also coming back full steam this August 18-21. Fair Manager Shari Ioffrida says they’re even planning some new things we’ve never seen before.
“So, we’re planning a new Friday night “Welcome Back to the Fair” concert in the grandstands. Another thing is, we have a new livestock auction. It’s called Pacific Northwest Junior Livestock Auction. It’s 4-H FFA kids.”