PORT TOWNSEND – The city goes Victorian for its 11th year on March 16-18, and the Victorian Festival’s promoters promise another weekend that draws upwards of 2,000 visitors during a tourism slump month.

“The March bump is almost entirely due to the Port Townsend Victorian Festival,” said Tim Stover, an uptown Victorian bed-and-breakfast inn owner and longtime festival promoter.

Stover and Steve Bailey talked up the event, which they said will offer more fun than ever this year.

The event benefits Jefferson County’s Historical Society, which is now back in its historic City Hall headquarters at Water and Madison streets.

“We believe that in another five years that it will be not quite as big as the Wooden Boat Festival, but the second biggest event,” Bailey said of what he calls “experience-based travel” for visitors.