10th Annual Oregon Cheese Festival

 Friday, March 14^th – Dinner

Central Point, OR (12/31/13) – Oregon-inspired culinary events, including a farmer’s market-style artisan food and wine festival, will kick off with the Meet the Cheesemakers and Winemakers Dinner @ the Oregon Cheese Festival during the third weekend in March.

To commence the festival, a sumptuous meal introducing guests to participating artisans will be held at the historic Ashland Springs Hotel in Ashland Friday night, March 14^th from 6:15 P.M. – 9:00 P.M. The dinner is held for the benefit of the non profit 501 (c) (6) Oregon Cheesemaker Guild. Each course will spotlight a cheese made by one of the festival’s artisans paired with a local wine or beer.

 Saturday, March 15^th – Festival

At the festival on Saturday March 15^th from 10 A.M. – 5 P.M., thousands of visitors will sample cow, sheep, and goat cheese from Oregon creameries, including Pholia Farm, La Mariposa Creamery, Ochoa Creamery, Tumalo Farms, Tillamook County Creamery, Willamette Valley Cheese Co., Fern’s Edge Goat Dairy, Oak Leaf Creamery, Umpqua Dairy, Rivers Edge Chevre, Briar Rose Creamery, Face Rock Creamery, Full Circle Creamery, Portland Creamery, Rogue Creamery, and many others.

The Oregon Cheese Festival will be open to the public Saturday, March 15th from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. at Rogue Creamery, 311 North Front St .(Hwy. 99), Central Point, OR.

Held under 2 large heated tents, 14,000 sq. ft. of space, at Rogue Creamery’s Central Point facility, the tenth annual festival will invite guests to shake hands with cheesemakers & other artisans. Activities will be provided for children including games, activity sheets and baby cow petting.

Southern Oregon & other local culinary artisans and beverage providers who are expected to participate include Lillie Belle Farms, Gary West Meats, Applegate Valley Artisan Breads, Cupcake Daily, Slagle Creek Vineyards, Ledger David Cellars, South Stage Cellars, Serra Vineyards, Caprice Vineyards, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Crater Lake Cellars, Hot Lips Soda, Clear Creek Distillery, Bend Distillery, Klamath Basin Brewing, Oakshire Brewing, and Rogue Ales. Samples and /or sales will be offered at each booth.

Sunday, March 16^th – Double EE

A new event created to celebrate the 10^th Anniversary of the Oregon Cheese Festival is the Sunday, March 16^th, from 10 A.M. – 2 P.M., Double EE: chEEse and bEEr. The Double EE, a friendly cheese and beer competition, challenges cheese makers and brew masters to create great tastes together along with a story behind the pairing. The three celebrity judges planned to participate are author Janet Fletcher, Cheesemonger Steve Jones, and CULTURE founder Lassa Skinner. There will be at least 10 teams participating in the event including 6 Oregon Cheese Guild cheesemakers. Tickets are $50 per audience member and the event is limited to 100 guests, and  entitle guests to  entry into the competition and event, an official judges score card, the opportunity to participate in the judging , plenty of  time  to  taste the beer and cheese pairings with the makers after the competition, and a tasting tumbler” keepsake” logoed beer glass. This competition will definitely be an event to remember for any beer and cheese lover.