PORT TOWNSEND — This weekend’s Victorian Heritage Festival has evolved in recent years, infusing the previous tea-and-tradition orientation with detailed historical information about the era it celebrates.
“Port Townsend has a unique opportunity and is a really amazing town,” said Cindy Madsen, who with her husband, Nathan Barnett, is organizing the 19th annual event.
“It’s stuck in time, which makes us very lucky.”
The festival takes place Friday through Sunday at various locations around Port Townsend and features a historical-building tour, exhibitions, a Victorian Ball and, for tradition’s sake, a series of Victorian high teas.
Additionally, the festival includes a series of presentations that examine the tools and traditions of the late 19th century, including bicycles, cutlasses and corsets.
“You can get very detailed information about the times,” Main Street Executive Director Mari Mullen said of the festival.
“There aren’t very many places you can go and talk to people who are living the Victorian life.”
This is the third year Madsen and Barnett have run the festival under the Olympic Peninsula Steam banner.
They also sponsor the Brass Screw Confederacy steampunk festival, which will celebrate its third year May 28-31.
Barnett and Madsen have chosen recent themes for the Victorian Festival, with this year’s event focusing on maritime activities.
This includes a presentation about Victorian-style ship rigging offered by Brion Toss and instruction about how to use sextants for celestial navigation.
“It’s stunning how this works,” Madsen said of sextants.
“No one is going to come away knowing how to work a sextant, but they will understand the complexity, how phenomenal it is and that people really used this before GPS.”
“We want people to come in quietly curious and come away impressed by how many cool and amazing people are in this community,” Barnett said.
Madsen said they are trying to attract people more interested in history than boating, as boat enthusiasts are better suited to September’s Wooden Boat Festival.
“This is an opportunity for people who are not in the industry to see what is happening on the other side,” she said.
And it’s a bit easier to get around: A few hundred guests are expected this weekend, while the Wooden Boat Festival draws around 35,000.
“Each year, it seems to build,” said Mullen of the Victorian Festival.
“It fulfills a mission of education about historic buildings, but it is also a boost for tourism because it shows people what a great place Port Townsend is.”
Mullen said the building tours are the most popular attraction because people are always interested to see what’s behind the compelling interiors of the privately owned structures.
High on the list is the Hastings Building, on display for a second year.
New to the list this year is the Old Consulate Inn, a bed-and-breakfast owned by Barnett and Madsen, and the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Barnett said the Victorian Festival has about a 30 percent attendee overlap with the more fanciful Brass Screw Confederacy.
“You have a lot of people who are Victorian enthusiasts because they love steampunk, and you have a lot of steampunk enthusiasts who love this week’s festival because it’s another way to play with the Victorian world,” he said.
“It’s like my Victorian fantasy. We have people who come every year to both because each have elements of dress-up and history.”
The general pass for $25 includes access to all lectures and demonstrations, as well as tickets to Saturday night’s ball. Those younger than 18 and holding a valid student identification are admitted free of charge.
A “family-friendly” pass for a tour of four historic buildings is available for $10 for adults and $5 for kids younger than 12.
Separate $10 passes are available for tours of Uptown landmarks and old hotel buildings.
A $25 pass reserves a seat at one of the Victorian teas, scheduled both Saturday and Sunday.
For tickets and information, go to www.vicfest.org.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
