by Madie Murray

Farm to Cafeteria

Mark your calendars and invite your friends. On Saturday, June 27 at 11 a.m. the big white tasting tent will be perched once again on the Eastsound Village Green alongside the Farmers’ Market to celebrate the Fifth Annual Orcas Island Cider and Mead Festival – a major fundraiser for the Orcas Island Farm to Cafeteria Program

Twenty of your favorite West Coast hard cider and mead producers, the most ever, will be offering tastes of 70-plus varieties of ciders and meads to adults 21 and over for just $10 that includes admission, tastes and a commemorative tasting glass.  Orcas Island Growlers and other cider festival-related items will be on sale as well as bottles of most every cider there for purchase and take-home.

Other festival events around town during the week prior to the festival include:

• Cider and entree pairings at Inn at Ship Bay, The Kitchen, Doe Bay, The Loft and Hogstone.

• Inn at Ship Bay will also be the site of an historical Orcas Island apple orchard talk with tastes of Orcas Island Distillery brandies and delicious bites on June 25. Tickets available at the Orcas Chamber office or brownpapertickets.com.

• The Barnacle is creating a special cider cocktail and ciders on tap

• Orcas Island Food Co-op will be doing a “Fabulous Fruit Fermentation” workshop on Friday, June 26. Information on all events may be found on the cider festival website www.orcasislandciderfest.org/events.

A favorite happening at the Festival is the Orcas Island Cider Home Brew Competition.  Around 2 p.m., Jim Litch and Rachel Bishop will learn if they are able to accumulate an unprecedented third beautiful Crow Valley trophy plate, or will they be dethroned by another?  Competition is already shaping up to be tougher, and each year, the numbers get bigger and the brews get better. Ask Bob!

Orcas Island’s own Dustbunnies and Isaiah Dominguez, a singer/songwriter from Seattle, will be entertaining the crowd all day from the Village Green Stage with musical strains from Celtic to soft rock.

Check it all out at www.orcasislandciderfest.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/orcasislandciderfest

Thanks to our amazing sponsors who help make it all possible: The Northwest Cider Association, Island Market, Ray’s Pharmacy and General Store, Islanders Bank, The Islands’ Sounder and San Juan Sanitation.