PORT ANGELES — From golden brews to a bottle art installation, the third annual Arts & Draughts Festival caters to the beer-minded and art-enthused.
To that end, the three-day festival has scaled up, pouring on more beer, wine, bands and live art. Starting today at 7 p.m. and going on until Sunday at 4 p.m., about 20 local art vendors, 23 brewers, 11 bands and one throne will occupy Laurel Street downtown between First Street and Railroad Avenue.
About 10 of those brewers — including names such as Elysian Brewing Co., Full Sail Brewery, Mac & Jack’s Brewery, Pike Brewing Co. and Scuttlebutt Brewing — will be first-time attendees.
The organizers also added a few more live music acts from last year and will host a three-day live art installation.
“We’re excited about expanding,” festival chair Angela Oppelt said. “We’re expanding everything slightly.”
The presale for a discounted weekend pass ended at midnight Thursday. A $45 weekend pass at the gate includes three-day admission into the beer garden, a tasting mug, front-row access to the bands and a five-token tasting package.
Saturday-only tickets cost $35 and include five tasting tokens and a tasting mug.
Friday-only and Sunday-only admission costs $10.
Extra tokens will be sold in packages of five for $10 at the beer cart and ticket booth.
Proceeds go to the Port Angeles Downtown Association after deducting the event’s expenses. The association hopes to raise about $15,000 to $20,000 this year, office manager Richard Stephens said.
By Tuesday, about 300 tickets had been sold — approaching the number of presale tickets sold by Friday last year.
While the festival will likely sell upwards of 1,000 tickets, people are “notoriously late” when it comes to purchasing tickets, so 300 constitutes a good showing, Stephens said.
The festival kicks off today with a party in the beer garden from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., along with Grandpa’s Grandkids performing at 6 p.m. and headliner Lucky Brown taking the stage at 8 p.m.
Food available for purchase will be provided by Maggie May’s food truck, Next Door Gastropub, Yong Jin Asian Bakery, Cedars at Dungeness and H20 Waterfront Bistro.
Saturday will bring about 20 art vendors to a street fair, many of whom will demonstrate their crafts.
In addition, downtown galleries will aim to draw festivalgoers, Stephens said.
Studio Bob, 118½ E. Front St., will open its doors from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for Fiber Arts Exhibition 2017, a precursor to the North Olympic Fiber Arts Festival in Sequim.
One of the festival’s main attractions — the tasting event — lasts from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.
A kids’ zone will offer games and activities organized by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula, plus root beer floats donated by Bedford’s Fine Arts Center.
“Sunday Funday,” from noon to 4 p.m., will include red beers, games and activities in the beer garden, a sports bar with a live broadcast of the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners games, and live music featuring Ruin.
During all three days, “festival resident artist” Tia Stephens will repurpose some 50 wine bottles and 70 beer bottles to create a 5-foot-by-5-foot throne inspired by “Game of Thrones.”
“The ‘Game of Thrones’ ‘Iron Throne’ is pretty iconic, and when I was looking around at materials related to the festival and I saw all of these beer and wine bottles,” she said, “ I thought, why not create a throne at the festival?”
For the past seven weeks, Stephens has been constructing the wooden platform on which the throne will stand, she said.
“I’ve pretty much been working on nothing else,” she said, laughing.
From today through Sunday, she will use construction adhesive, or “real heavy-duty glue,” to piece the bottles together. Most of the bottles and wood have been repurposed — “rescued,” as she said — for this undertaking.
As the resident artist works, Oppelt expects festivalgoers will want to snap photos next to the great glass creation. They will be welcome to do so.
Stephens hopes it might be displayed at the festival in the years to come, she said.
For a full list of participating artists, vendors and breweries, visit www.port angelesbeerfest.com.
The lineup of music today through Sunday is:
Today
• 7 p.m. — Grandpa’s Grandkids.
• 8 p.m. — Lucky Brown.
Saturday
• Noon — Professor.
• 1 p.m. — Ches Ferguson.
• 2 p.m. — The Quattro Gatos.
• 3 p.m. — Miller’s Point.
• 4 p.m. — Black Door Alley.
• 5 p.m. — Bread & Gravy.
• 6 p.m. — Crushwater.
• 8 p.m. — Hooky’s.
Sunday
• 2 p.m. — Ruin.
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Reporter Sarah Sharp can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at ssharp@peninsula dailynews.com.
