From House To Home

You’re seated at a table with a view of the Olympia Mountains. The air is filled with the calming fragrance of lavender. You’re sipping a local wine and savoring the most amazing lavender-glazed shrimp you’ve ever tasted. This is a Sequim Lavender Festival® moment.

From tranquil strolls through fields filled with purple flowers to serious street-fair shopping, the Sequim Lavender Festival is a celebration with options. In fact, the three-day event is touted as “Nine Festivals in One.”

Now in its 12th year, the Festival is sponsored by the Sequim Lavender Growers Association. Eight farm owners open their fields to visitors from all over the world. Tour participants come to pick their own lavender, purchase products made from lavender, learn how to grow lavender, sample foods made with lavender, and generally eat, drink, and be merry. Every farm offers a different atmosphere and different activities, including workshops and demonstrations.

While there is a charge for the farm tour, the Street Fair in downtown Sequim is free and open to the public. This year, more than 150 vendors, including 22 Lavender Growers Association members, will display their wares in “Lavender Central.”

Food has always been a big part of the Festival, but new this year is Culinary Day. On Sunday, area chefs will demonstrate lavender-enhanced dishes, including salads and sauces and entrees and desserts at each of the “Eight Farms on Tour.”

Veteran Festival-goers know it’s impossible to take in all eight farms plus the street fair in one day or even two. “There are a certain percentage of people who visit all the farms,” says Festival Executive Director Scott Nagel, “but each family farm has its own character and its own handmade oils, lotions, and other products. People who come multiple years might visit all the farms before settling on their favorites.

“People ask me which farm they should go to, and I tell them every person has their own lavender preferences. Part of the appeal is the individuality of the farms and the owners and what they produce,” Nagel says.

Offerings range from the common--fresh lavender sachets, soaps and lotions, potted plants, and crafts--to the uncommon. “One of our growers makes dog collars to calm dogs down; it’s a great item,” Nagel says. “Our dog wears a lavender bandana.”

While the Festival is a great time to visit the lavender farms, it’s not the only time visitors are welcome. People can use the Sequim Lavender Growers Association Driving Guide to locate and visit all 30 lavender farms in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley. In just 15 years, these small, family-operated farms have turned Sequim into the Lavender Capital of North America®.

If You Go

• Sequim Lavender Festival®
• July 18-20
• Farm tour tickets: $15; children age 12 and under are admitted free.
• Free shuttle bus service from downtown Sequim to the eight farms on the tour.
• www.lavenderfestival.com or (877) 681-3035