Portland Nursery Gears up for Apple Tasting Festival

PORTLAND, OR- The Portland Nursery is revving up for its 29th annual Apple Tasting festival, an event that has come to be understood as a "Portland institution among families and farmers alike." The festival includes over 60 different kinds of heirloom apples for sampling, all from local Hood River growers, and local, family-oriented farms.

"It's a tradition for a lot of families to come and bring their kids; there is a Harvest Festival atmosphere," said Corina Reynolds.

Admission is free, as are all tasting experiences. Participants are encouraged to bring a canned food donation as well. These cans are then donated to the Oregon Food Bank.

“We make several donations of apples to food banks during this time, as we want to ensure the freshest fruit is available for everyone," said Reynolds.

People can pick up a list to mark their different favorite apples, which are best for tasting, juicing or saucing. In addition to the apple-based festivities, there is also a band tent that features local Portland artists on Saturday and Sunday.

As if music and apples weren't enough, there's also a kids tent with face-painting and scavenger hunts. You can taste more than just apples at the festival, too. The hard-cider tasting area has proven particularly popular among the older festival attendees as well.

"For many years, we have donated leftover apples to the Oregon food bank, as well as different local schools for their own harvest festivals," said Reynolds.

While the primary focus of the festival is apple tasting, and Portland Nursery has a greenhouse dedicated solely to that, you can also purchase apples to take home. Several of the orchardists that the nursery buys from grow rare types of apples that can't be purchased in a grocery store.

For a full list of vendors, activities and artists, visit Portland Nursery apple tasting website.

"Fresh pressed Cider, all day every day. People can take as much juice as they want to sample," Corina Reynolds

Images via Corina Reynolds, Portland Nursery