The second annual La Conner guitar festival starts Friday. Producers Shirley Makela and husband Brent McElroy over 1,300 guitar and music enthusiasts to fill the Town’s halls for workshops and concerts and restaurant spaces for cabarets. Lodging spaces will be full. They are up from 1,000 last year. Congratulations guitar enthusiasts. Way to go, Shirley and Brent.

We are two weeks out from the 10th biennial Skagit River Poetry Festival. Like the guitar festival, it brings enthusiasts from around the country to La Conner. Similarly, it has a heavy hitter lineup of national names. This fest...