This year I’m excited to be planning to attend a new-to-me event Cider Rite of Spring, on March 25th 2017 in Portland Oregon.  The 4th annual event is presented by the Northwest Cider Association.  Cider Rite of Spring has been named “The Best NW Cider Festival” by SIP Northwest Magazine.

Date/Time/Location:  Saturday March 25th 2017, noon to 6pm, at The Evergreen ballroom (618 Southeast Alder Street) in Portland Oregon; this is a new venue for this year, and all indoors

Admission: $25 or $40* (tickets sold here), which includes 8 tasting tickets and a tasting glass; this is a 21+ event only

*$40 is for VIP admission, which has the same start time, but includes access to the VIP lounge, with complimentary cheese pairings by Whole Foods and one-on-one interaction with 6 PNW cidermakers who will share a special cider offering for tasting and purchase only to VIP ticket holders

Cidermakers:  30 planned (^5 Cider, 1859 Cider Co, 2 Towns Cider House, 7Bev Corp, Alter Ego Cider, Baird & Dewar Farmhouse, Bandon Rain, Bauman’s Cider, Bull Run Cider, Cider Riot!, Dragon’s Head Cider, Elk Horn Brewery & Cider House, Finnriver Farm & Cidery, Locust Cider, McMenamins Edgefield, New West Cider, Pear UP, Portland Cider Co., Red Tank Cider, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, Runcible Cider Co, Schilling Cider, Seattle Cider Co, Snowdrift Cider Co, Spire Mountain Ciders, Square Mile Cider, Steelhead Cider, Swift Cider, Tieton Cider Works, Tumalo Cider Co, and Woodbox Cider)

Ciders:  100 planned

Bottle Shop:  Yes – many ciders will be available to purchase bottles of to take home.

Food:  Available for purchase from Wasabi Sushi

My Notes:  I’ve never tried ciders from 10 of the 30 cideries (many are Oregon cideries which don’t yet distribute to Washington).  My husband and I plan to make a weekend of it, driving down from Seattle on the morning of the event and staying overnight in a local hotel.  The location near downtown is great as we can park the car once and take The Max or an Uber to the event and dinner.

Stay tuned for a review of the event and tasting notes!