One Washington valley turns purple for exactly three days a year, and it’s happening this weekend
Most of Washington gets soaked by Pacific storms. Sequim doesn’t — and that quirk of geography is exactly why, for one weekend a year, an entire valley on the Olympic Peninsula turns the color of a field’s worth of purple crayons.
Sequim Lavender Weekend runs July 17–19, 2026, marking the festival’s 30th year. Admission is free, and the valley’s farms throw open their gates for three days of u-pick fields, distillation demos, and vendor booths.
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Why Sequim, specifically
The Olympic Mountains block most of the moisture that soaks Seattle before it ever reaches the valley floor. Sequim gets around 16 inches of rain a year — drier than almost anywhere else west of the Cascades, and close to a Mediterranean climate.
Lavender hates wet roots, so that rain shadow turned the Dungeness Valley into one of the few places in North America where the plant grows at commercial scale. More than 20 farms now call the valley home.
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A few farms worth building your day around
B&B Family Farm is the biggest of the bunch — twelve acres and more than 14,000 plants rolling toward the mountains. Tours are free and run regularly with no reservation needed, which makes it the easiest first stop.
Jardin du Soleil is certified organic and one of the most photogenic stretches in the valley. Walk the rows, cut your own bundles, and pick up something from the gift shop on your way out.
Purple Haze Lavender Farm is another certified-organic original — cut-your-own fields, plus lavender ice cream and lemonade if you want to taste the theme instead of just smelling it.
The Lavender Connection grows around 40 varieties, more than anywhere else in town, and its distillation gazebo lets you watch — and sniff — how the essential oil actually gets made.
Getting there
Sequim is about two hours from Seattle. The straightforward route is I-5 south to Highway 16 through Tacoma and Bremerton, then onto Highway 101. The more scenic option is the Edmonds–Kingston ferry, which drops you on the Kitsap Peninsula for a drive past Port Gamble and across the Hood Canal Bridge.
Sequim also sits seventeen miles — about twenty minutes — from Port Angeles, so it’s an easy add-on if you’re already planning a longer Olympic Peninsula trip.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Which farm are you hitting first — the ice cream or the essential oil demo?
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
