Cider & Mead Festival set for July 27

Submitted by the Orcas Island Cider & Mead Festival.

Cider-and-mead-sippin’ time is almost here. For the ninth year in a row, Orcas Island will host the Orcas Island Cider & Mead Festival on Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Village Green in Eastsound.

The big, white tasting tent will be filled with hard cider and mead producers, their fabulous products and lots of raving fans. Come taste and learn about some of the best ciders and meads from the Pacific Northwest to the tune of live music featuring Jeff Scroggins and Matt Sircely.

All proceeds from the festival benefit Orcas Island Children’s House, a non-profit early-learning center that provides a dynamic play-based curriculum to prepare children for kindergarten and life.

At least 19 new and returning producers will offer a wide variety of ciders and meads. They include: 2 Towns Ciderhouse; Bellingham Cider Company; BoatHouse Ciderworks; Channel Marker Cider; Chaucer’s Cellars; D’s Wicked Cider; Eaglemount Cidery; Ethereal Meads; Finnriver Farm & Cidery; Girl Meets Dirt; Herb’s Cider; Hierophant Meadery; Lost Giants Cider Company; Madrone Cellers; Rev. Nat’s Hard Cider; Seattle Cider Company; Sky River Mead; Tieton Cider Works and Wildcraft Cider Works.

Adults 21 and over may enter the tasting tent for $15, which includes admission, tastes and a commemorative tasting glass. Not only will you be able to buy additional tastes, you’ll be able to purchase and take home your favorite brews. And by popular demand, tickets may be ordered in advance via Brown Paper Tickets. Just go to the website and click on the link.

Judging of the hotly contested Orcas Island Home Brew competition, open to Orcas Islanders, will begin at 2 p.m. To enter, bring your best brew to the tent by 1 p.m. Your $20 entry fee includes your ticket to the festival.

Sip your cider to bluegrass, songs and intricate instrumentals performed by Scroggins and Sircely, who plan to bring a full quartet to the festival stage. Look for Issac Callender on guitar and fiddle and Forrest Marowitz on bass to join Sircely’s mandolin and Scroggins’ banjo work. The bluegrass-based quartet also will highlight the breadth of music original composition within the group, at times branching into varied and interesting musical threads.

The tasting tent will be pitched alongside the farmers market, which will be in full swing, offering produce, flowers, food and crafts.

A huge thank you to our generous sponsors: T Williams Realty; Island Market; Gudgell Properties and Seastar Lodging; Girl Meets Dirt; Islands’ Sounder; Orcas Issues; Permit Resources; Ray’s Pharmacy & General Store; Roses Bakery Café and Sircely Marketing & Design.

To stay informed, check it all out at www.orcasislandciderfest.org and www.facebook.com/orcasislandciderfest.