It’s the time of year when the waves are rough and the rain is pouring, but that won’t stop troves of visitors from coming to Cannon Beach this weekend.

The 32nd Annual Stormy Weather Arts Festival will treat the raincoat-clad art lovers to live music, a fashion show, food, drinks and tours of fine art galleries Friday through Sunday.

Local artists Jeffrey Hull will showcase his paintings of coastal scenes at the Jeffrey Hull Gallery. He opened the gallery in 1987, the same year the first Stormy Weather Arts Festival took place. In those days, he said, fewer visitors would come out during the fall and winter, so the festival gave people a reason to come to Cannon Beach and engage in the arts.

“It’s a great combination of the visual arts and live music,” Hull said.

An artistic destination

Jim Paino, executive director of the Cannon Beach Chamber of Commerce, said the event supports local artists in Cannon Beach including Hull, David Marshall of Modern Villa Gallery, Bill Steidel of Steidel’s Art and more.

The festival also brings in artists from around the northwest, as well as around the country.

“We’ve been known as an arts town for many years, and the Stormy Weather Arts Festival is part of that,” Paino said. “Back in the ‘70s, there was a big push for artists who live here and it kept growing and continuing on from there and it led to this wonderful event for our community to celebrate the arts.”

Bill Steidel was one of the first artists in town, according to his son, Sam Steidel, who manages Steidel’s Art and its framing shop.

“The whole arts community in Cannon Beach originated from his actions and drawing in the theater and the experience of having art in town,” Sam Steidel said.

As an illustrator, Bill Steidel’s work ranges from realistic to fantasy and includes three illustrated books.

A champion festival

“The Stormy Weather Arts Festival is probably Cannon Beach’s premiere arts festival, and with the billing we can never be wrong with the weather,” Sam Steidel said. “Every gallery in town is showing new works or having a reception or music, so you go around from gallery to gallery to see new stuff.”

The festival is also a great way to connect with people during the off-season.

“It’s a real compliment that people show up,” Hull said. “I’ve always been appreciative of anybody who walked through the door and took more than a glance at stuff.”

Hull will show a variety of his original paintings, including one of a surfer riding the waves called “Sparkling Surf.” The painting is based on a photograph from around the time he started living in Cannon Beach in the early ‘70s. He moved there from Portland because he loved to surf and was making surfboards and pottery.

“I’ve always been an artist. Even when I was a kid, I loved to draw,” Hull said. “By the time I was in high school, I knew it was something I enjoyed seriously enough.”

That’s not all

In addition to the art, the event features two concerts. The Portlanders, an urban-folk quartet, will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse. Tickets are $27. The spotlight concert will be a performance by Marv and Rindy Ross and Jon Koonce at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse. Tickets are $39.

The festival will also include live music performances around town throughout the day on Saturday and a “Dancing in the Rain” fashion show at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Coaster Theatre Playhouse.

Participants can also enjoy craft brew samples and a barbecue lunch while listening to Delta Blues from Steve Cheseborough from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Cannon Beach Community Hall. Tickets for the Brews, Blues & Barbecue event are $25 per person.

For more information and tickets, visit www.cannonbeach.org/swaf.