PORT ANGELES — Canadian singer and comic Norman Foote, a buffet dinner, the Dessert Dash and an auction of fancy hotel stays and getaways: It’s the fall benefit for the Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts this Saturday.
Tickets to the buffet meal at the Elks Naval Lodge, 131 E. First St., are $20 and must be reserved by Tuesday at www.JFFA.org or 360-457-5411.
Dinner, featuring an Asian green salad, Mediterranean tomato wheels, Thai coconut beef, teriyaki chicken, and a tropical fruit platter, will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday. Foote will step up after the meal for his musical comedy show — and then ad-lib his way through the auction bidding as a comic auctioneer.
Tickets to the 7 p.m. performance by Foote, a Juno Award winning entertainer from Vancouver, B.C., are an additional $20, with proceeds benefiting the Juan de Fuca Festival.
New this year: free admission to the show for first-time or renewing Juan de Fuca Festival members.
“If you renew your JFFA membership — or for new members — then as our gift to you, you’ll receive complimentary tickets,” said Dan Maguire, festival executive director.
Members at the “Friend” level of $50 to $99 can receive one ticket for Norman Foote’s show, while those above $100 are eligible for two tickets.
Tickets to the Foote show — separate from the buffet — are available at Port Book and News, 104 E. First St., Port Angeles, and Pacific Mist Books, 121 W. Washington St.; they will also be available at the door.
Another aspect of the Juan de Fuca Festival benefit, the Dessert Dash, is an annual tradition in which dinner guests bid on treats made by local chefs. Chocolate hazelnut bourbon torte, tiramisu and cream puffs have tantalized dashers in past years.
This fundraiser generates support for the 20th Juan de Fuca Festival of the Arts, to take place in and around downtown Port Angeles next Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27.
The first booking for the music, dance and visual art pageant has just been announced: Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.
These musicians “have risen like a phoenix out of the ashes of war and inflamed the passions of fans across the globe with their uplifting songs of hope, faith and joy,” according to www.SierraLeonesRefugeeAllStars.com.
The band will come to Port Angeles for two Juan de Fuca Festival-sponsored concerts in May.
“Aside from the festival, [the All Stars] will also be performing for more than 3,000 of our local kids, age elementary through high school,” Maguire said.
Complete details on Saturday’s festivities — and other concerts to be presented this fall, winter and spring — are at www.JFFA.org, 360-457-5411 and by emailing contact@jffa.org.
Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.