From cookies and floral bouquets to bath bombs and essential oils, lavender is a popular botanical ingredient with legions of fans. Good news for local lavender lovers: Acres of these pink, white and purple shrubs are blooming at dozens of Northwest farms for the next month. This time of year, as many as 35,000 tourists flock to Sequim, the placid Olympic Peninsula town that hosts the annual Sequim Lavender Festival.
Dubbed the “Lavender Capital of North America,” the Sequim-Dungeness Valley alone is home to more than a dozen lavender farms that burst into fragrant bloom from July to August. The weekend festival, held this year July 19-21 , celebrates everything to do with the plant. Visitors can explore the area’s lavender fields or stick around Sequim to shop for artisan-made oils, soaps and flower-infused foods from more than 150 local vendors.
This year’s celebration is projected to be the largest since pre-pandemic times, according to festival executive director Kelly Iriye. More For locals who don’t have time to brave the ferry ride and multihour drive to the peninsula before Washington’s short lavender season ends, fear not. There’s plenty of lavender to see closer to home to help you avoid reversing the plant’s relaxing effects that Iriye said have made the plant so popular in recent years.
Below, learn more about the closest lavender fields to Seattle, including an island getaway, a Snoqualmie Valley hot spot and a winery-adjacent farm. Want a quick i.
