My readers will know that my husband plays accordion.  Until recently, he played in an accordion band, but is no longer, since the band now only accepts Covid-vaccinated players.  The gathering was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so everyone was thrilled that it went forward in 2022.  We went for the entire time, from Thursday June 16, through Sunday the 19th.  Hubby went to a few of the workshops, I attended competitions, and we both went to all the evening performances.  Here are some highlights.

This year is the 100th anniversary of Petosa Accordions in Seattle, and they brought some of their best models to show off.

Thursday night, we had dinner at an outdoor restaurant, and ate wonderful pizza.  This is the place next door.

I attended some of the competitions.  I did notice that there were many fewer competitors this year, since many players got out of the habit due to Covid restrictions (don’t get me started on the destructive effects on society).  Here are some of the competitors.

But this was the best competitive performance of the entire festival.  Watch this video, and see if you don’t agree.  This is the sister-team of Amelia and Ivy Eyer from Spokane (Ivy on the accordion).

Outside the Festhalle, I noticed a pickup group of people playing their accordions for the joy of it.  I think the players and the language they were singing in was Korean.

One night, there was an excellent Zydeco band that played a fun concert.  Their Cajun music was so catching, they had the audience dancing in the aisles!

And the big attraction was the Telechevs, Sergei and Maria (Masha).

All in all, it was a great time, and we were thankful that we could go and enjoy all the music.