Irrigation Festival’s nearly full slate set for May 6-14

Carnival, car show on hold as organizers look to regroup for 2023

By Matthew Nash • April 27, 2022 1:30 am
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ The Sequim Irrigation Festival’s carnival is on hold this year as the COVID-19 pandemic saw many staffers leave the industry thus limiting availability for many agencies to come to Sequim this year.
Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash/ The Sequim Irrigation Festival’s carnival is on hold this year as the COVID-19 pandemic saw many staffers leave the industry thus limiting availability for many agencies to come to Sequim this year.

As Irrigation Festival organizers inch closer to the first fully in-person series of events in two years on May 6-14, two popular attractions — the carnival and Car Show N’ Cruzz — won’t be included in the slate for logistical reasons.

However, all other events for the 127th year — including the Grand Parade, Kids Parade and Family Fun Day — are set to return.

Festival director Julianne Coonts said they’ve received quite a few inquiries about the events put on hold this year.

“We’re just really excited to be back in person,” she said.

“We’re looking forward to offering the carnival and car show next year. They’re not deleted from the lineup.”

In years past, the carnival runs the second weekend of the festival on West Fir Street between Sequim High School and Helen Haller Elementary. The Car Show N’ Cruzz traveled along Washington Street similarly to the Grand Parade but ended at the Sequim Walmart parking lot for the remainder of the afternoon.

Coonts said the car show’s director had to step down for personal reasons and they were unable to find a new director in time for the permitting process.

She said by the time festival organizers determined they’d put on a full, in-person show, they only had about five weeks to submit all permits to the City of Sequim.

Carnival director David Blakeslee said festival volunteers reached out to their last two carnival vendors and others down the West Coast and learned they all lost employees to retirement or other employment over the last two years so they had to cut back due to the amount of crews they had available.

“During COVID, the whole world changed,” he said. “People can’t go two years without a job.”

One ride, a long slide where people ride down it on rugs, will appear at the Logging Show grounds at Carrie Blake Community Park on the second weekend though, he said; fees will apply.

“We’re doing everything we can to have a great, fun festival,” Blakeslee said.

While there are no carnival rides at the festival, Clallam County Fair manager Shari Ioffrida said they are under contract with Rainier Amusements for a carnival Aug. 18-21. She said they’ve confirmed all-you-can ride wristbands will return at the same $30 rate as years past where a participant can choose any day to ride all day during the fair. Presales will go online this summer at clallam.net/Fair.

Plan ahead

Irrigation Festival organizers ask locals to consider signing up in advance for a few events at its website, irrigationfestival.com.

• Crazy Daze Breakfast for Dinner, 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 6, across from the Sequim Civic Center, 157 W. Cedar St.

• Kids Parade, 9 a.m. Saturday, May 7, on the 100 block of West Washington Street;

• Fun Run (virtual option available), 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at Sequim Village Center, 651 W. Washington St.;

• The Sequim Pioneer Dinner, Friday, May 13, at the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road, is restricted to descendants of pioneer families that lived in the Sequim School District prior to 1950. Spouses may attend with their qualified pioneer descendant. Tickets are available Wednesdays-Fridays from noon-2:30 p.m. at the Sequim Museum and Arts, 544 N. Sequim Ave. Tickets are $20 by cash or check.

• All essential workers are invited to walk in the Grand Parade as part of the Sequim Citizen of the Year honor bestowed on them in 2020. Coonts said they’ll be the opening parade entry with no registration required. They’ll need to walk to KeyBank,120 N Dunlap Ave. with no parking available prior to the noon parade start time, or take a shuttle from the Sequim Village Center courtesy of Rocket Transportation between 9:30-11:30 a.m. Participants are asked to wear something associated with the company they work for.

Crazy Callen Weekend on May 6-8 includes Crazy Daze Breakfast for Dinner, 6-8 p.m. Friday, across from Sequim Civic Center, 157 W. Cedar St.); First Friday Art Walk Sequim, 5-8 p.m. Friday, various downtown locations; Sequim High School operetta, “Emma: A Pop Musical,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Kids Parade, 9 a.m. Saturday, 100 block of West Washington Street; Family Fun Day, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 100 block of West Washington Street, and Innovative Arts and Crafts Fair, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, Sequim Civic Center.

The festival concludes with the Grand Finale Weekend, May 12-15, with Past Royalty Luncheon (invite only); Historic Walking Tour, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday, Sequim Civic Center; golf tournament, noon Friday, Sunland Golf & County Club; Firework show, dusk on Friday, at Blake property just south of Carrie Blake Community Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.; Logging Show, noon-dusk Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Blake property; Fun Run, 11 a.m. Saturday, starting at Sequim Village Center, 651 W. Washington St.; SHS operetta (same show days, times as previous weekend, as well as May 20-22 performances), and the Grand Parade, noon on Saturday, through downtown Sequim.

For more information about the festival, see irrigationfestival.com.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Sisters Angel and Savannah Wagner race their mom Natalie Topham at the Sequim Irrigation Festival’s carnival in 2019.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Sisters Angel and Savannah Wagner race their mom Natalie Topham at the Sequim Irrigation Festival’s carnival in 2019.