Festival guests should prepare to be delighted by the beauty of one of Southern Oregon's historic wineries. Located in the rolling hills of Medford, minutes from highway 99 and Rogue Valley International Airport (MFR), Edenvale is family friendly with plenty of space to walk the grounds around the mansion, enjoy music and sample honey while 21+ may sample mead (click here for map and directions). Guests will park and enter at Edenvale's south entrance.
Attendees will learn about pollinators, botanical aspects of honey production, native plants, native bees, research findings on honey bee health, youth involvement in tribal beekeeping, soil, seed, healthy flower forage and other components of habitat health.
Invited speakers include Marla Bull Bear, Founder of the Lakota Honey Lodge (Click Here for documentary), Dewey Caron, Emeritus Professor of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at University of Delaware and Affiliate Professor, Department of Horticulture at OSU, Annelia Hillman, Food Village Coordinator of the Yurok Tribe's Food Sovereignty Program and Ramesh Sagili, Associate Professor of Apiculture at OSU College of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Horticulture.
There will be music by Chasing Keridwyn, Shybo and The Twisted Vines and - Eight Dollar Mountain in the main tent where mead can be sampled or purchased There will be art exhibits, native plant education and sales, talks, honey sampling, honey for purchase, kids' activities and more. Edenvale chefs will prepare foods for purchase and the Edenvale Tasting Room will be open.
The Cascade Girl Organization is a 501(c)3 nonprofit the mission of which is to educate people about food system pollinators of the Cascade region and their impact on planetary survival via science, culture and the arts. The Festival is a fundraiser for the Cascade Girl Organization's programs for kids and for veterans.
At it's heart, the Oregon Honey & Mead Festival is a celebration of apiculture and agriculture, toasting the work of all farmers and agricultural pollinators. Native bees also require pollen and nectar to reproduce and to provide valuable pollination which makes food for people and animals. To make delicious honey, honey bees rely upon being able to find food in the form of nectar from flowers and forbs. They also require pollen for reproduction and energy - and all pollinators need water unspoiled by toxins and chemicals.
There is no better place for such a celebration than Jackson County, Oregon which became GMO free in 2014. Mead, the drink of the ancient Vikings is the product of fermented honey. The invited mead and honey producers bring their talents to the table along with principles of earth science, biology, botany, food science and history.
Suggested donation $20. Kids Free.
Music Schedule:
11:00-12:30 - Shybo & the Twisted Vines
12:30-1:30 - Jen Ambrose
1:30-3:00 - Eight Dollar Mountain
3:30 - 5:00 - Chasing Keridwyn
Talks in the Mansion
Dr. Ramesh Sagili - Associate Professor of Apiculture, OSU
Marla Bull Bear - Director, Lakota Youth Development and Honey Lodge Program
Dr. Dewey Caron -Emeritus Professor of Entomology, Wildlife
Sharon Schmidt - President, Cascade Girl
Annelia Hillman - Yurok Tribe Food Sovereignty Program
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