SEQUIM — Rare Earth, the legendary rock band known for hits like “Get Ready,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You” and “I Just Want to Celebrate,” is the opening-night event Aug. 31 for the Sequim Balloon Festival, a hot-air ballooning extravaganza on Labor Day weekend.
A free pre-performance kickoff party for the concert will be held at 7 Cedars Casino from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight (Aug. 24).
Those attending the party — featuring Rare Earth tunes in the casino’s Club 7 — can buy tickets to the concert and enter a drawing for prizes.
The prizes include several pairs of tickets to the concert; three-day passes to the Sept. 1-Sept. 3 balloon festival; an autographed harmonica and other gear from Lee Oskar Harmonicas; an overnight stay at Quality Inn and Suites in Sequim; dinner for two at 7 Cedars’ Totem Lounge and a 7 Cedars gift certificate.
The Aug. 31 Rare Earth concert will begin at 7 p.m. on the Sequim Balloon Festival grounds. The gates open at 6 p.m.
The center of the festival will be Grant Field, near the Holiday Inn Express on the east end of Washington Street in Sequim.
The concert will have the Fabulous Johnsons opening for Rare Earth — plus another surprise guest who will arrive by hot air balloon, weather permitting, according to Global Entertainment promoter Quinn Hampton.
There will be food vendors and a beer garden.
Where to buy tickets
Tickets for the Rare Earth concert are sold separately from tickets for the balloon festival.
Concert tickets are on sale now at www.BrownPaperTickets.com and in Sequim at 7 Cedars; Purple Haze Lavender Farm and Store; 101 Outpost; Hardy’s Market, Tattoo Guy; and Islander Pizza and Pasta Shack.
In Port Angeles tickets are available at Coog’s Budget CD’s, and in Port Townsend at the Highway 20 Roadhouse.
General admission is $25; children age 7 to 14, $10; those age 6 and under are free (no ticket needed).
VIP reserved seating tickets for $40 are available at Coog’s Budget CD’s and at www.BrownPaperTickets.com.
There is a limited number of $40 reserved seats.
General admission seating will be festival style (bring your own chairs or blankets).
Any group or business ordering 10 or more tickets in any combination will receive a 20 percent discount.
Contact Hampton for this deal at quinn77@earthlink.net. Or call him at 360-797-1277.
For tickets to the balloon festival, or to learn about its array of Labor Day weekend events, visit SequimBalloonFestival.com.
