It’s the countdown – 1 month until Feast 2015. Four weeks from now, on Thursday September 17th – Sunday September 20th is the incredible food festival called Feast Portland 2015. This is the biggest food festival in Portland, featuring SIX main events, THIRTEEN extravagant dinners with chefs from outside Portland and inside Portland collaborating to create epic multi-course dinners, SEVEN hands on classes and SIX panels with sampling of liquid libations via the Drink Tank series.

The tickets to Feast went on sale back in May, and many events are already sold out. However, don’t despair – besides volunteering for an event, there are still some excellent events still open as of this post publishing date.

Keep in mind that for the price, you are also helping a worthy cause. Besides showcasing delicious eats and drinks, and celebrating many local chefs and producers of Oregon, Feast also has a mission to fight hunger.  The Feast festival net proceeds go towards ending childhood hunger in Oregon and around the country through Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon and Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry.

Now to my highlight of fabulous Feast events you can still buy tickets to!

Sandwich Invitational

  

The Sandwich Invitational offers you the chance for 3 hours to indulge for $95 at Director’s Park. The offerings include 15 or so mini sandwiches while enjoying Widmer’s beer, Hendrick’s gin, or wine from 5 wineries in Washington and Oregon.

Chefs creating sandwiches to win the title of Judge’s Choice or People’s Choice include famous names like Alvin Cailan of Eggslut, Aaron Franklin of Franklin’s BBQ, Duff Hoffman from Charm City Cakes (and also Ace of Cakes), Gregory Gourdet of Departure (and who you may have rooted for recently in Top Chef), Vitaly Paley of Paley’s Place/Imperial/winner of Iron Chef Battle Radish, and more!

   

Almost half the chefs are from out of town, so the Sandwich Invitational is saving you travel money by providing a chance to sample one of their culinary creations right all in one place. And you are guaranteed to see each of these chefs as they will all be on hand in their sandwich making station.

  

I’ve attended the Sandwich Invitational in previous years – to see an example of all the goodness I got to eat (I was staggering out each time, barely able to get in all the sandwiches but I did it all for you!) check out my recaps of Sandwich Invitational 2014 and Sandwich Invitational 2013.

Brunch Village

  

This new event from 2014 was my favorite event last year. Brunch Village occurs on Sunday for 3 hours at Pioneer Courthouse Square for the all you can eat and drink admission price of $75. I probably got $25 worth of bloody mary alone at the Build Your Own Bloody Mary booth last year, no joke.

  

And I washed down a beermosa and at least 2-3 other brunch cocktails featuring wine or liquor. This year there are 7 wineries and 6 distilleries attending this year, as well as Widmer hopefully bringing back their beermosa again…

  

But don’t overlook the 13 or so delicious brunch bites available either! The location of Pioneer Courthouse Square offers lots of seating with the steps in order to enjoy your progressive brunching.

 

For details on what the experience might be like, check out my Brunch Village 2014 recap to see all I ate and drank last year.

Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting

The Friday version and Saturday version of the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting events are huge bang for your buck in terms of food and drinks at $60 for five hours of noshing. Most importantly, this is your chance to get introduced so many incredible producers of food and drink here in the Pacific Northwest.

   

Many of these food and drink stuffs you may have seen or heard and wondered about – well now you can sample their product as part of your Oregon Bounty admission! And, you’ll be introduced to even more wonderful artisan products so you’ll be in the know of the latest and greatest in the local food world.

  

Not to mention the wine. Instead of having to drive from tasting room to tasting room, the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting assembles the greatest wine tasting room ever with 30+ wineries all pouring samples of their wine offerings which are all included in your admission price. If you or your partner (like F for me) prefer beer instead, there will be 15 breweries with their beverages as well.

While you are taking a seat on the Portland Living Room steps to enjoy yourself, you can watch chef demos on the stage.

Think about it – $60 for 5 hours, if you can last, means sampling at $12 an hour. That’s why I love recommending the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting for anyone attending Feast for the first time – the value, and the longer time means you can take your time visiting all the booths.

For a look back at examples of how I enjoyed the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting in the past, check out my recap of 2014, and my recap of 2013 to get an idea of what your experience could include.

Hands on Classes

Available Hands on Classes that are still available include (prices vary based on the class)

Photo courtesy of Feast Portland

• Farm to Cocktail Shaker -Creating Your Own Cocktail Ingredients with the Commissary/ shows you how to transform ingredients into syrups, shrubs, and juices to up your cocktail making game.
• Learn to shuck like a pro, taste and compare different oysters, learn how to pan-fry oysters and  navigate the oyster offerings at your favorite restaurant with Aw Shucks with Lissa James Monberg
• Learn to brew the ultimate cup of coffee with A Game Coffee with Liam Kenna of Stumptown Coffee Roasters
• At Basic Pig Butchery with Camas Davis butcher a pig and get tips on how to cook those cookable cuts you created
• At Beer Bites with Christian Debenedetti and Andrea Slonecker pair beer and food bites with a guided beer brunch following broad flavor profiles—from “Fruit & Spice” to “Sour & Complex” and “Malty, Rich & Sweet”
• Find out what amaro is and how to make incredible cocktails with it by attending Amaro Meets Cocktail: Mixing and Sipping the Forgotten Spirit with Mark Bitterman

Drink Tank

All the Drink Tank events occur at the Portland Art Museum Evans H Roberts Sculpture Hall and include the panel as well as accompanying snacks and drinks as appropriate.

Drink Tank Panels that are still available include (prices vary based on the panel)

• Bon Appetit Shaken, Stirred and Buzzed: Why We Really Like Booze panel with representatives from the wine and spirits industry sharing wisdom and tales. The price includes a year subscription to Bon Appetit.
• I’m in a Cult takes a look at collectible rare beers
• Margarita’s Moments celebrate the classic margarita by taking a look at its history and how to make the best margarita
• Get a taste and hear the story behind European farmhouse style beers with Old MacDonald Had a Brewery

Are you going to Feast 2015? If you could choose an event to attend, what would your top pick and why?

Disclosure: I was granted a Blogger Pass for Feast Portland 2015 for blog post and social media coverage but I am not otherwise being compensated. I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.