Our long-awaited 2023 Portland Fermentation Festival at Ecotrust last week was absolutely fantastic. We filled our new ground level Irving Street Studio space and third floor rooftop with our wild and free stinky fun vibes. We hadn’t been able to gather for our fest since 2019, so after a three-year festival hiatus we were all so very happy to come together to celebrate, learn about and sample all things funky and fermented.
If you were a part in any way — thank you! Stinkfest has always been for the people by the people. There was a lot that made this year stand out, including the fact that we had our extra-special guest of honor Kirsten Shockey travel up to Portland from her southern Oregon farm home to kick-off the fest with an inspiring and empowering talk. We rolled out the sparkly green carpet for her and had so much fun. Thank you, Kirsten! We are so grateful.
I recorded Kirsten’s talk, demo and Q&A, and although it isn’t super great audio quality (I recorded it with my little journalist dig. recorder and there’s a good deal of background noise) and it starts a few minutes into our fest welcome plus introduction, it’s still a good ear-in for those fest attendees who want to re-listen and for those who couldn’t make it this year. Just click on the player below.
I also highly recommend checking out this fun short video that Mike Truong of All the Homies Network and Faint Media made of our last 2019 Stinkfest because he and his crew came to this year’s fest to shoot it and we’ll share the video from that on our socials once it’s completed. We’re excited about it. And, if you’re feeling nostalgic, at the end of the post I’ve included links to recaps of every stinking one of our Stinkfests. Pretty fun to scroll through photos of those way-back-when ones.
I love that we had yet another sun-shined-upon festival day and night. Strangely enough, even though our Portland festival is always held in the rainy fall, we always have beautiful weather for it. As I like to say, the sun always shines on Stinkfest! That makes the third floor rooftop of Ecotrust all the more magical on festival night.
On the rooftop for this year’s festival we had cider from Swift Cider, food from DesiPDX and music from DJ Jimbo (check out his festival playlist here — so good! And his Electric Avenue show on XRAY.FM). Dreamy.
Another festival standout this year was the return of the Fermentation Station, conceived by and organized by festival co-organizer Claudia Lucero of Urban Cheesecraft. That station is always especially a hit with fest kids and, as always, kids 12 and younger get in for free. At the Fermentation Station this year, festival attendees got try their hand at making their very own dilly beans to jar up and take home to ferment. So sweet. I love that Stinkfest gets to be the annual event where so many Portlanders, of all ages, first try their hand at fermenting. All of the beans, salt and spices were so very kindly donated yet again by People's Food Co-op. Thank you, People's!
We also welcomed back the Starter Barter & Adoption Center where fest attendees bring a SCOBY, take a SCOBY, bring water kefir grains, take water kefir grains! I brought dozens of my personal vinegar and kombucha SCOBYS bagged up along with printed up recipes from my new cookbook Fermenter (!!). I co-authored Fermenter with Aaron Adams, who you’ll soon see in some of the tasting photos below.
This year we had a brand-spanking-new festival station helmed by the lovely Heather Arndt Anderson and conceived and organized by Claudia — the Bacterial Petting Zoo! Words simply do not do it justice. Scroll down to see the fizzy and fermenty critters.
Thank you to everyone who came out for our long awaited 2023 STINKFEST and made it so special and fun! We are incredibly grateful to everyone who makes our festival so fantastic year after year, including our host with the very most, Ecotrust. We couldn't do it without them. We love, love, love Ecotrust and their non-profit mission. Others who make our festival thrive year after year include our wonderful exhibitors, demo'rs, rooftop vendors, kick-ass volunteers and local media folks who always help us get the word out. And you! Our fest attendees are incomparable. Photographic evidence below :)
If you didn't check out any of the festival coverage this year, I highly recommend tuning into the pre-fest Stinkfest Queens radio spot on KBOO with Ken Jones. We brought Ken different ferments that we got to enjoy after the segment — co-organizer Heidi Nestler’s Wanpaku Natto, my homemade dandelion wine and some garlicky Fermenter cookbook Sour Dills. Oh and we really loved this Portland Mercury article too.
In terms of social media, we have our fest Instagram + Facebook and Twitter if you want to see more, and/or post or repost something. On social media please consider adding the hashtag #pdxfermentfest to any of your festival photos or vids. We’d love to see them.
And, once more, here’s a reminder of why we do what we do straight from our press release: The Portland Fermentation Festival is, and always has been, a non-commercial event. Once you purchase your ticket and enter the festival you will not be sold to. The wide array of food and drink ferments are not for sale, they are for sampling. We will have hard cider and food to purchase as respite on the rooftop, but the mission of festival has always been firmly rooted in no sales. Our one-night annual event fosters learning, connecting, communicating and celebrating fermentation with one another. We believe that transactional interactions often get in the way of that.
Ok, without further ado, some 2023 festival photos! Stay stinky! XOXOXO
P.S. I’m not giving photo credits here. Please just know that I took most of them and there are additional photos by Claudia Lucero and others.
Year after stinky year, artist Tim Root makes us the most amazing fest posters. This year’s is so good. I love that Kirsten is holding a crock filled with her books and all the weird and wacky colorful details throughout — Fermentation Station dilly beans jar, natto sample, all the eager and fun folks. Thank you, Tim!!
Everyone seated and ready for our Stinkfest Queens festival welcome to all and then Kirsten Shockey’s talk plus Q&A!
Kirsten talked attendees through all sorts of fermentation adventures and experiments, including a lot about international techniques for dehydrating and then fermenting veggies from Indonesia to Nepal to Japan. Super inspiring. And she brought some of her delicious mustardy fermented achar to share.
After the talk we all stacked chairs and made room for the big and wild festival tasting. AND Kirsten signed books for the long line of folks eager to meet her and get various copies of her books signed. And when they did so they got to try some of that yummy achar that she made and brought.
The Fermentation Station was a huge hit yet again this year! Folks got to make their very own small jar of dilly beans to then take home and ferment thanks to a generous donation from People’s Food Co-op. For many, this is their very first time fermenting something. So fun! Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers who made this station happen.
Beloved fest volunteer Gwynie, and dear friend of Claudia’s, working the Fermentation Station, with its jarred dilly beans, ohhhhh with a couple green beans hanging from her shirt tassels. Stinkfest humor :)
Let the tasting begin! So happy to have Eleni Woldeyes from Eleni’s Kitchen sampling her Ethiopian injera this year. Super tasty as are all of her sauces and spices. Next to Eleni, in the background, are the good folks from Obon. Obon chef-owners Humi and Jason — longtime fest friends and rooftop vendors — were in Japan during the fest this year but they sent these two lovelies to sample some of their misos. AND this is the only good photo I got of them — in the background! Not for lack of love for Obon that’s for sure…
I snapped this photo of my dear friends Earnest and Yuri Migaki, plus the whole Jorinji Miso fest crew, before Kirsten’s talk and the tasting. They brought soooo many tasty treats to sample at this year’s Stinkfest including my very VERY favorite locally made misos and…
All of these incredible amazakes that they make! I loved them all so much especially the black sesame.
Fast forward an hour to and hour or so later and their table was mobbed! Everyone loves Jorinji Miso!!!
Right after Kirsten’s talk we welcomed Mihoko Okamura and her dancers for a participatory — open to all — traditional Japanese Hakko Bon Odori dance. This song and dance was so sweet and celebratory and I’m really glad that I got to join in. I’d never heard of this Japanese fermentation dance before and now I will seek it out with Mihoko. Her Bon Odori group is often at the PSU Portland Farmers Market by the way, when weather permits — so more in the spring and summer. You can follow them on Instagram at Bon Dance Picnic PDX.
More dancing!
On the beautiful Ecotrust rooftop later in the evening with Mihoko and her Hakko Bon Odori friends and family! The best.
Back in the tasting hall on the ground level folks enjoyed all sorts of spicy and not so spicy fermented treats from Ashley Tenud’s The Good Pickle — pickles, hot sauces and more. It was Ahsley’s first time tabling at the fest and we hope he comes back every year. Such a big heart and we really love all that he’s doing with The Good Pickle by fostering fermentation in the community with his fermentation mentorships for kids. Thank you, Ashley!
And this year’s Stinkfest Spirit Award goes to these sweet folks (we don’t really have awards, but if we did…) who really embraced the fest no-sales + DIY + skill share ethic. They brought a couple bottles of their home fermented guava-mango juice to the fest to share. It was so yummy! They set up next to the Bacterial Petting Zoo and poured out samples for anyone wanting to try it. Love this so very much.
Speaking of the Bacterial Petting Zoo! The lovely Heather Arndt Anderson helmed this new station for us this year that Claudia dreamed up and devised. Folks got to ohh and ahh, and sniff and touch, and get up close and personal with all sorts of food and drink cultures. I think we should have this every year now. So informative and fun. Thank you, Heather!!
Petting Zooooooo!
More fest family here — the good folks from Choi’s Kimchi. We really missed having Matt at the fest this year, but were so happy to have the Choi’s Kimchi family in-house sampling up their awesome kimchis. I worked closely with Chong and Matt Choi for Chong’s Pork & Kimchi Mandu recipe that’s in my cookbook, Dumplings Equal Love, that came out in 2020 during the pandemic. Their kimchis are my very favorite and I love the Choi family. Please look into the Matthew Choi Farmers Market Vendor Grant and consider applying or donating XOXO
Brian Shaw and his family and kiddos set up next to Choi’s with their rainbow of super tasty veggie ferments. I’m always so happy sample all the deliciousness that is Oregon Brineworks and to see them in more and more Portland markets. I’m so grateful that they travel from Hood River to Portland year after year for Stinkfest. It’s a family affair.
We were very happy to host first-time fester Ona Yogurt this year! Clare McLeod’s dairy-free Greek yogurt is super tasty and she brought a bunch of flavors to sample including mixed berry, lemon curd, chai spice and plain.
Another first timer at this year’s fest was Ryan Knowles of The Realm Refillery and Vtopian Artisan Cheeses. Their plant-based cheeses are so, so good. AND there are some very exciting things are on the horizon for Vtopian in SE Portland, so keep your ears and eyes open for the exciting news from them.
Very cute photo of Ryan and Kirsten that Claudia snapped at the end of the night. Kirsten’s holding a lovely little wedge of Vtopian Cheese that she took home to southern Oregon to enjoy. Mmmmmm.
Another fest fave! Soma Kombucha always brings it with a wide array of their sparkly lovely bevvies — komucha, jun and more. Check out their SE Belmont and Vancouver WA taprooms!
We had two super popular fermentation demos at the fest this year. I snapped this one of Sarah Pesout aka The Fermentista right before her fun and empowering DIY kraut demo. Dozens bee-lined for it to learn from the one and only Fermentistaaaaaaa.
James Vergara also hosted a very special demo later in the evening. James demo’d two Filipino ferments in celebration of Filipino American History Month — bagoong alamang (fermented shrimp/krill paste) and atchara (fermented green papaya). I love how many people I saw throughout the night taking notes at the festival. Exciting to think of all the home ferments that will fizz and come to be from knowledge gained at Stinkfest.
Look how beautiful!
I really loved stopping by the Fermenter table throughout the night. It’s so great to have our Fermenter cookbook out in the world now (it came out a month ago! That’s the blown-up cover of it on the table) so that folks can make all the yummy ferments in it, including the super tasty and sparkly water kefirs that chef Aaron Adams and Josh Curtiss sampled at Stinkfest.
The best.
My sweet friend Elise sampling the sparklyyyyyy lovely Fermenter apple-fennel water kefir.
In addition to Aaron and Josh sampling Fermenter’s water kefir, I bagged up dozens of vinegar mothers and kombucha SCOBYs along with printouts of Fermenter cookbook vinegar and kombucha recipes for fest attendees to take home and DIY with. I loved growing a whole bunch of them for the fest and plan to do this again next year. They went fast!
Tabling next to Fermenter helloooooo Taelyn Lang of Tortuga Gordo Hot Sauces! I loved sampling Taelyn’s award winning sauces. I call myself a Stinkfest Queen AND a Condiment Queen, and I especially love tart and fiery fermented hot sauce like his.
As always, the third floor Ecotrust rooftop was magical. Cider by Swift Cider, Indian food from DesiPDX and music by DJ Jimboooo. Beautiful moon by beautiful moon ;)
Swift Cider founder himself, Aidan Currie, was serving up his delicious ciders on the roof. So many that he sold out! It was a beautiful night and getting to enjoy a delicious local hard cider on the rooftop, under the moon while cozy by the outdoor fire, was a real treat and fest highlight for many folks. Maybe you?
And DesiPDX delivered some super tasty rooftop comfort food love with their awesome Indian curries, dal and chai. So tasty.
Three of our volunteer superstars catching a much deserved Desi-PDX fueling break! Left to right = Gwynie, Anna Marie and Chris. These dear friends of Claudia’s kicked ASS for hours at the Fermentation Station — helping folks put together their jars of dilly beans — before they got to sit down for a minute of peace and enjoy some tasty chickpea snacks and dal. Thank you so much Gwynie, Anna Maria and Chris!
My friend Thia bounding up to me toting a bottle of her homemade fig vinegar for me to try. It was delicious! This is a really fun aspect of Stinkfest — the sharing, trading and sampling of home ferments that folks bring with them. You don’t have to have a table or demo at the fest to share your creations.
Back down at the ground level, I want to give a quick full-of-love shout out to some of our rad ticketing table volunteers! We coudn’t do the fest without these fine folks or...
Our late shift ticketing table superstars XOXOXO THANK YOU!
Back in the tasting hall we were stoked to have Matisse from Britt’s Pickles tonging up barrel-fermented deliciousness throughout the tasting. Years ago I first tried Britt’s Pickles at Pike Place Market in Seattle (they’re made out on Whidbey Island) and was so happy I did. They’re SO GOOD! I gave the person working the Britt’s stand that day my card and said, “If you’re ever in Portland, come to Stinkfest!” Aaaaand fast forward to now and they’re distributed in Portland! This was their first year stinking it up with us.
Karel Vitek has been tabling at the festival for years and years and it’s always such a treat to see him and sample his delicious fermented Stinging Kombucha Hot Sauces. I even got to see his wife Monica and their daughter for a second as they dropped off a couple things for Karel. Thank you for all that you do, Karel!
Who loves Wanpaku Natto? I dooooooo! I’m so glad to be a Stinkfest Queen with co-organizer Heidi Nestler — Wanpaku Natto founder-owner. I may have had more than one of her natto samples. I mean…
And Stinkfest Queen and co-organizer Claudia Lucero, like me, had to be a bunch of places at once throughout the fest (Queen BEES were buzzing all around) so her sweet friend Erica (who volunteered and helped us out all night in so many ways) spent some time tabling for her and serving up Claudia’s yum yum yummy Wheymonade. Claudia has a few books published including her most recent one Cooking with Whey that I highly recommend.
Right next to Urban Cheesecraft’s table was Dan Dees tonging up his homemade rendition of the long lost and much loved Portland-proud Neusihin sour dills. I sadly never got a photo of Dan and he left early, so I’m using this placeholder of Sarah Neusihin, whose Depression-era pickles Dan Dees so sweetly brought back to life and sampled at Stinkfest. Thank you, Dan! I’m so sorry that I didn’t snap a photo of you and your delicious pickles! If anyone did snap a photo of him at Stinkfest please email it/them to us at pdxfermentfest@gmail.com and we can use that here pretty please!
I snapped this one of Jon Westdahl just one table over early in the night. His Squirrel & Crow split pea tempeh chips were super tasty and so unique. YUM!
My friends Rachel and Pia enjoying them :)
So sweet that our super special honorary guest speaker Kirsten Shockey got to meet so many of the fine folks exhibiting and demoing at Stinkfest this year. Love this joyous photo of her and Sash Sunday of OlyKraut chatting it up. Sasha has been a part of the fest just about every year, if not every year, and it’s always so great to see her. Everything she ferments is incredible and we love her and OlyKraut.
Snapped this one right after the last photo! Low light and lots of movement = blurrrrrrr. Anyway, if you are looking for a gorgeous and durable crock and weights then Careen Stoll has got you covered. She’s been showcasing her gorgeous wares — Luscious Porcelain — at the fest for years.
Ohhhh look who I ran into!! David Barber. Od Briney himself! David, George Winborn and I started this ferment festival waaaay back when in 2009. So glad that David was able to make it this year and bring the whole family along for the fun this year. Somehow our get-ups always go so perfectly together — like we planned it. Years ago, a writer for some publication called our trio — David, George and me — “dapper foodists” and that made us laugh has stuck with us. Just a couple of dapper foodist dear old friends at Stinkfest I guess.
Did you try this?? I loved it and all the other shrubs and shrub concoctions from Sascha Arhcer of Sauvie Island Shrubs. Perfect cozy fall sipper.
Sascha chatting it up with Stinkfesters who loved it as much as I did.
Fest friend for life = SakeOne! So many good sake pours for Stinkfesters this year. We’re so happy that you came out for Stinkfest.
Aaaaand, that’s a wrap! This photo was snapped at the very end of the night of us Stinkfest Queens (left to right me Liz Crain, Heidi Nestler & Claudia Lucero) with extra special honorary guest speaker Kirsten Shockey. We were all so tired and happy and a good deal slap-happy. This was after we hauled out all the trash, compost and recycling, putting away all the tables and chairs and loaded up everything. TIRED! And so happy. Cheers to yet another incredible Portland Fermentation Festival! We did it! We love you!
My morning-after-Stinkfest very handsome cup of SUPER STRONG joe! It was a little hard to wake up after such a long and exhausting day and night of the fest, but I felt so happy and grateful for life and for Stinkfest when I did.
After that, we Queens and Kirsten got ourselves a very special lunch at Fermenter, thanks to Aaron and Josh! We celebrated Stinkfest and Kirsten, ate our way through much of the kick-ass menu and relaxed and caught up for a couple lovely hours. After that, Aaron gave Kirsten and us Queens a tour of the belly of the beast — Fermenter’s and Workshop’s fermentation chambers. And after that, MARC MARON walked into the restaurant! For real! We swooned over Maron for a bit, gave him a signed copy of the Fermenter cookbook, and then returned to swooning over Kirsten before she set off on her several hour journey back home. Thank you for everything, Kirsten! We miss you already. We are forever grateful that you helped us revive our beloved Stinkfest! After our too long three-year pandemic hiatus. We love you.