The Pacific Northwest is a place you want to taste, and you can do just that at the Portland Seafood and Wine Festival. This year’s event, the 17th annual, showcases some of the Pacific Northwest’s best seafood purveyors, wine makers and craftsmen. It takes place at the peak of the region’s Dungeness crab season, so visitors can expect to eat a lot of fresh crab served by vendors wearing claws on their heads. The menu includes more than just crab, though — booths offer other types of seafood, like prawns and lobster, and options for non-seafood lovers, like artisan nuts, dips and chips.
Portland Seafood and Wine Festival precedes one of the Northwest’s most prestigious wine competitions hosted by the same event . Vintners across Oregon present their finest wines. Submissions can be sampled at the festival, in addition to wines from over 60 wineries.
For those who don’t have the taste for fermented grapes, there are 20 booths serving beer and other spirits like gin and whiskey. Precautionary warning though: buying a festival ticket will not get you free drinks. Wine and other samples are priced independently by the seller. Some are as cheap as a dollar, but fancier wines could cost the price of a glass, or more.
The festival has live entertainment, a balloon artist and face painting for children as well.
The Specs
- The Portland Expo Center can hold up to 9,000 people.
- Tickets cost $16 for visitors 18-59 and $13 for kids 11-17 and seniors 60 and up. Kids 10 and under enter for free, and VIP tickets cost $125.
- If you’re interested in exploring what else Portland has to offer, here is a helpful guide.
