By SCOTT D. JOHNSTON
A trio of traditional events returns this Labor Day weekend to mark the unofficial end of the summer tourist season on the North Coast.
The 50th annual AAOS Arts & Crafts Festival runs Friday through Sunday at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. Almost all manner of human-powered watercraft will be used to “Paddle the Shores” Saturday at Oyhut Bay Seaside Village. And up the coast, from Pacific Beach to Moclips, parades and contests of logging skills make up the Kelpers Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
AAOS Arts & Crafts Festival
Associated Arts of Ocean Shores is one of the oldest nonprofit groups on the coast, and their Arts & Crafts Festival is the longest running annual event at the beach. Over 100 vendors will fill the Convention Center indoors and out. The artisans involved offer wide range of products, all of which are hand-made.
The festival is free to the public and runs from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. It is the main annual fundraiser that fuels a variety of AAOS projects including public art and their support of art education and scholarships in North Beach schools.
Live music will be offered throughout the weekend, with Blues Remedy playing Friday, the Bruce Hughes Band on Saturday and Unexpected Soul and Beach Bash on Sunday.
A community drum circle, conducted by Drum Life, is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday.
Event coordinator Sylvia Schroll described the Arts & Crafts Festival as “a fun, friendly opportunity to purchase unique handcrafted items at a reasonable price, support the artists who created them, and support our local artists and the work that we love to do for our community.”
Paddle the Shores
This Saturday event is all about human-powered watercraft, with boat races in a half-dozen categories, including kayaks and canoes. There is a stand-up paddleboard race, a poker paddle, cardboard boat building and races, and rubber ducky and floaty fun.
All of the water activities begin on the Oyhut Canal, just across Marine View Drive from Oyhut Bay Seaside Village. The 2-mile and 6-mile races go through Lake Minard, past the east end of the Bell Canals and onto the Grand Canal.
Participants are required to bring their own life jackets and whistles. The $15 entry fee ($30 with a commemorative event T-shirt) lets paddlers participate in all events except the cardboard boats, which requires a separate $15 fee to help cover the cost of materials. Participants can register online at Brown Paper Tickets (m.bt.me/event/3565108) or at the event beginning at 9 a.m.
In the Oyhut Bay Village Square will be live music, outdoor games including a cornhole tournament, vendors, food and family fun with the Ocean Shores Pirates and their Black Rose pirate ship.
Paddle the Shores is sponsored by the nonprofit Ocean Shores Fresh Waterways Corp., whose Bruce Malloy has been coordinating the group’s 18 or so volunteers staging the event. He said the day “is a great way to close out the summer on some of Ocean Shores’ 23 miles of fresh waterways.”
Kelpers Weekend
Saturday starts with a pancake breakfast at the North Beach Community Center from 8 to 11 a.m. Vendors will be selling their wares both days on Main Street in Pacific Beach.
The Kiddies Parade is on Saturday; gather at the burger stand on Main Street at 11:30 a.m. Costumes will be judged, and it’s free to enter. Live music will start at 4 p.m. on Main Street, and a street dance will take place from 7 to 10 p.m.
On Sunday, the unique Kelpers Parade starts at noon, traveling from Moclips down State Route 109 to First Street in Pacific Beach, ending on Main Street, where the Shake Rat Rendezvous will take place next to the Wacky Warehouse.
The annual Tug-of-War between the towns of Moclips and Pacific Beach will start at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Analyde Gap Beach Approach in Pacific Beach.
