Get Your Fun On Before CiderFest!

T-shirts printed by The Printshop in Eastsound, on sale at the Festival

— from Madie Murray —

There will be a lot to do in town the week before Saturday’s Cider & Mead Festival!  Local establishments will be hosting events and offering deals leading up to the big event on June 27. Here are a few…

• June 25th – Tales, Tastes & Tidbits: A special fundraising event for Farm to Cafeteria will occur at the Inn at Ship Bay where Charles West, owner of the new Orcas Island Distillery, will offer tales of the ancient apple orchards of Orcas Island along with tastes of his first apple and pear brandies, all served with tidbits of wonderful foods masterfully prepared by the incomparable Geddes Martin to complement the event. Tickets available at the Orcas Island Chamber office or brownpapertickets.com. $55 per person • 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Limited seating!
• All week – The Barnacle will be featuring special cider-based cocktails and ciders on tap.
• June 25, 26, 27 – The Kitchen will be featuring a reduced cider-based sweet and sour sauce on its salmon, prawns, chicken, pork, beef, tempeh and tofu entrees prepared with a generous portion of local veggies, rice, noodles or sesame rice cakes. $12 – $17
• All week – Hogstone, Doe Bay Café, The Loft and Madrona Grill will be doing special “cider dishes of the week”
• All week – Inn at Ship Bay will be featuring delicious cider and mead entreé pairings on their menu
• June 26th, 1 p.m. – The Orcas Island Food Co-op – “Fabulous Fruit Fermentation” workshop in the Co-op upstairs Community Mezzanine. Learn about the health benefits of lacto-fermented foods and observe a demo on how to prepare lacto-fermented foods, then do fermenting yourself and take it home! $20 per person • 1 p.m. Contact the Food Co-op for reservations!
• At the Festival – The Big Cider Fest Raffle: Purchase chances to win a 40” Vizio LED Flatscreen TV, 64 oz and 40 oz Hydroflasks, a basket full of ciders and meads, a beautiful large Orcas Island Growler, 10 lbs of Island-grown cider apples, and more! Raffle tickets will be available at the Festival.

SPECIAL DEALS!
Orcas Island Growlers will be at the Festival selling their beautifully unique growlers. 20% of each sale they make on that day will go to benefit the Orcas Island Farm to Cafeteria Program.

Wanderlust Camps is offering 10% off of their published nightly rates on “glamping” tents to house your friends coming for the Festival. Their tents are in Moran State Park and surrounded by over 5,000 acres of wilderness. Just enter or mention the promo code ‘Cider Matters’ when booking. https://www.wanderlustcamps.com/moran-state-park-glamping-specials-and-packages/