SEQUIM — Coming to the stage today: Steppenwolf and a live wolf named Jacob.
Olympic Game Farm, home to some 275 creatures at 1423 Ward Road north of Sequim, will celebrate its 40th anniversary today with a concert by Magic Carpet Ride, a band specializing in the music of Steppenwolf — as in “Born to be Wild” and “The Pusher” — and plenty of other festivities.
The event begins with farm tours, pony rides and puppet shows courtesy of Kelbi’s World, all from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Drive tours of the game farm will be discounted 40 percent: $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and children.
Then, Magic Carpet Ride, led by guitarist Glen Bui of Belfair, will take the stage at 4 p.m. for two hours of classic rock by Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac — “even a little country,” Bui added.
Advance tickets, available at the game farm, are $13 for adults or $10 for children and seniors. At the gate Saturday, tickets will be $20 for adults and $15 for kids and seniors.
A drawing for Seattle Seahawks game tickets will be held during the concert’s intermission.
This performance is a benefit for some of the game farm’s predatory animals, said tour manager Jamie Pate.
“The main reason for the event is to get our tiger homes done” and to build larger, more natural enclosures for the big cats: Sasha, Amadeus, Czar and Bree.
As for Jacob the wolf, he’s a trained 2-year-old who is “extremely social,” Pate added.
That makes him ideal for a stage appearance today.
Pate didn’t indicate whether he’s named after the Jacob the werewolf in the Twilight novels and movies.
“My kids named him,” was all she said.
In the years since its establishment as an animal compound in support of Walt Disney Studios, Olympic Game Farm has taken in herds of hoofed animals — llamas, yaks, elk, bison and deer — along with lions, tigers and bears, other predatory cats, prairie dogs and coyotes.
Pate said the farm has been in the process of upgrading its facilities since 2008, when Robert Beebe, grandson of farm founder Lloyd Beebe, took over its management.
“We’ve been turning the farm around,” she said, “and focusing on things that needed focusing on.”
To find out more, visit www.OlyGameFarm.com or phone 360-683-7621.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.