Sequim Lavender Festival
You know it’s time for the Lavender Festival when the Sequim Valley is transformed by its beautiful lavender blooms. Imagine walking in rolling fields of brilliant purple, the warm sun on your face and the scent of lavender on the breeze. The fertile valley is like a watercolor painting of lush greens and deep amethyst, with snow capped mountains in the distance. It’s no wonder that Sequim is called the Provence of the Pacific Northwest. With so much natural beauty, it’s easy to believe you are in Southern France.
This year marks the 21st annual Lavender Festival. The festival’s modest beginnings grew from restoring old dairy pastures with lavender fields in 1995. The lavender farms were the perfect crop for Sequim’s climate and are more sustainable, since they require little water. The first Lavender Festival was a very small, local affair that included only eight lavender farms. Today, there are approximately 40 lavender farms that grow 110,000 plants each year. The 2016 Lavender Festival had visitors from across the US and 55 countries around the world.
