Port Gamble’s loss was certainly Kingston’s gain when the 50th annual Kitsap Arts & Crafts Festival opened on July 25.

“We finally reached the point where the festival had outgrown Port Gamble,” said Evy Olsen Halvorsen, the current festival director. “So we were very happy when we could arrange to come to Kingston.”

She believes the change will be a win for both the festival and the community. Port Gamble, she pointed out, is a business, not a community in the larger sense.

“Being a volunteer group, we need a community,” she said. “We are constantly recruiting new volunteers as people move on or shift around, so moving to Kingston has been a huge fresh start.”

The festival has found the community receptive and “extremely welcoming. The merchants are very welcoming. They understand what an arts festival can bring to their community,” she said.

Halvorsen understands both the retail and arts aspects of the festival. She was once a store owner in Poulsbo.

“I understand retail as well as the arts — I’m an artist myself. The festival really draws people and it is just healthy for the community to go in that direction, meaning all of the arts. Craft artisans. Musicians. The artistic efforts of nonprofits to help the community. It’s all part of the draw.”

She began negotiating the site with the late Mike Bookey, who had been part of the initial start of Salmon Days in Issaquah. Salmon Days started as a small festival similar to KACF but now brings in 150,000 people.

“Obviously we’re not going to try to do that, but we can certainly heighten the exposure of Kingston as a wonderful place to visit, not just a place to stop and move on,” she said.

The festival began as a parent-teacher event in Poulsbo to promote art for kids, Halvorsen said. After growing too big for the school, it moved to Port Gamble where it continued to grow. The space available for the festival, however, has gradually decreased as Port Gamble developed other events.

This year the festival was spread over two sites, Mike Wallace Park and Kola Kole park, as well as the Kingston Community Center where 200 juried art pieces will be displayed. The student art show, which has entries of children from elementary age through high school, will be shown at Mike Wallace.

Halvorsen said the festival committee is pleased with the new venues.

“Mike Wallace Park at the port is perfect for a festival. Being right on the marina, there with fresh breezes and it’s a very well kept park. Kola Kole and Moon Field just up the road is another charming location the the historic schoolhouse and plenty of room.”

Local organizations have been very supportive, Halvorsen said.

The Greater Kingston Community Chamber of Commerce was “very excited about an arts festival wanting to locate here,” she said.

Bayside Community Church and the Bradley Center provided some parking for overnight vendors, but parking remains a problem for visitors.

The festival extended invitations to nonprofits as well, and several organizations that serve the local community, such as ShareNet, Stillwaters Environmental Center and Kiwanis, will have booths at the festival.

Local businesses have also embraced the festival, she said. Several are hosting events that welcome artists and provide a chance for artists and residents to mingle. KACF hosted its own preview party where scholarship winners and judges could meet with artists, merchants, supporters and the public.

“A lot of the people I talk to here are really pleased to promote the idea of Kingston being an artists enclave,” Halvorsen said. “It’s a place that supports and embraces the arts. That’s what we feel is a really good future for Kingston. It’s beautiful. It’s welcoming.”