Sunshine Festival is short on sunshine

Published 1:30 am Monday, March 6, 2023

SEQUIM — Skies cleared long enough Saturday night for the big finale of the fourth annual Sequim Sunshine Festival.

Firefly Drone Company doubled its effort this year as 200 drones flew above the Blake property, south of Carrie Blake Community Park, showcasing everything from an orca to a sparkling spelled-out “Sequim” to a rotating interplanetary display.

Filled with awe-moments, the drone show followed a day with rain and snow, including during the Sun Fun Color Run through the park.

Organizers shifted musical acts to Trinity United Methodist Church’s sanctuary due to Saturday’s weather.

But the snow didn’t impact visitors much, volunteers said.

At the Interactive Light Experience in Pioneer Memorial Park, volunteers said Friday night was consistently busy and, once the snow stopped on Saturday, people began flowing in to see and try artist Ross Brown’s light work stations.

Volunteers also said the Sunshine Market inside Guy Cole Event Center remained busy throughout Saturday despite the weather.

Friday night’s events featured a ribbon cutting, a presentation/song from the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the First Friday Art Walk and the Navy Northwest Rock Band.

The Sun Fun Color Run continued with a big turnout of racers running/walking 1K and 5K races on Saturday as participants were painted at color stations.

Lukas Teague of Port Angeles finished first in the 5K (22 minutes) for all racers, and Lucy Wait, also of Port Angeles, finished third overall, and first for all women (23:36).

See full results at https://runsignup.com/Race/WA/Sequim/SunFunColorRun.

While the weather was wild this year, organizers previously said the event is meant to usher in the tourism season at a slower time of year and highlight Sequim’s sunshine.

Organizers set the fifth annual event for March 1-2, 2024.

Put on by the City of Sequim, and funded through its Lodging Tax Fund, Sequim’s communications and marketing director Barbara Hanna previously said the festival continues to work toward breaking even and has seen an increase in interest from sponsors, vendors and musician applications.

For more information on the festival and other Sequim events, go to Visitsunnysequim.com.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Michael Dashiell is the editor of the Sequim Gazette of the Olympic Peninsula News Group. Reach him at editor@sequimgazette.com.