come out & join us for our 9th annual festival in 2019!

ORCAS ISLAND CIDER & MEAD FESTIVAL
JULY 27, 2019  ///  VILLAGE GREEN, EASTSOUND, WA  ///  11 AM-4 PM

From 11 AM-4 PM, the Eastsound Village Green on Orcas Island will be packed with people enjoying a multitude of ciders and meads to benefit Orcas Island Children's House.

The big white tent will be filled with a number of hard cider and mead producers, their fabulous products and lots of raving fans. Come taste and learn about some of the best ciders and meads from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There will be live music on the stage, great food and our wonderful Farmers Market right next door. And definitely make sure you purchase some bottles to take with you for later enjoyment!

Orcas Island home brewers, remember to enter your cider in the The Orcas Island Home Brew competition. You know you want to be king or queen of the event! Coveted prizes again this year are beautiful hand-crafted Cider Festival growlers created by Philip Shane, Drink Rinse Repeat.

Featuring SCROGGINS AND SIRCELY

Bluegrass, songs and intricate instrumentals

Your cider and mead sippin' wouldn't be complete without memorable music!

Jeff Scroggins and Matt Sircely first met at a jam session in Seattle in 2018, and they soon started performing around Washington State. Scroggins and Sircely are bringing a full quartet to the the Orcas Cider & Mead Festival, with Issac Callender on guitar and fiddle and Forrest Marowitz on bass to join Sircely’s mandolin and Scroggins’ banjo work. The bluegrass-based quartet also highlights the  breadth of music original composition within the group, at times branching into varied and interesting musical threads.

Two-time National Banjo Champion Scroggins was living on a dairy farm in Oklahoma when he first had the opportunity to study banjo with the legendary Alan Munde. Decades later, Sroggins is known around the world for leading Jeff Scroggins & Colorado. In the past year, the group has been nominated for nearly a dozen national and statewide bluegrass awards, and its new CD has been flying high on bluegrass radio around the world. Jeff recently returned from a tour of Ireland with a new project: Jeff Scroggins and the Scroggdogs is “a more progressive project” designed to serve as a creative outlet for his original compositions and a “vehicle for an eclectic mixture of different musical styles.”

Matt Sircely’s musical interests span the worlds of folk and fiddle music, classic blues and country, vintage swing and bluegrass, and music from cultures across the continent and around the world. His instrumental work blends traditional and innovative approaches to mandolin, and his catalog of original songs is extensive, from songs of love and gardening to lyricism of history and struggle, hope and reconciliation. Two songs recently aired on NPR’s Says You, and No Depression described another as “timeless.” As a founding member of Hot Club Sandwich, Sircely co-produced the 2018 release No Pressure which features a guest appearance from master mandolinist David Grisman. No Pressure rose to the top tier of the folk, jazz, and jamband charts nationwide. 

Issac Callender has traversed the North American Folk Music Scene for 20 years, performing with groups including Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, The April Verch Band, Bobby Hicks, John Reischman, Tony Trischka, Tommy Emmanuel, and Peter Rowan to name a few. Isaac's versatility as a musician has garnered him accolades on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass. In 2002 his album "Here Comes the Rain" was runner up for Roots Album of the year from Just Plain Folks, and the same year his band Blue Pass was featured on Garrison Keilor's "A Prairie Home Companion". A few years ago, Isaac joined Sircely to perform at the Blackpot Festival in Lafayette, as well as a few honky-tonks in Texas and Louisiana. Isaac currently performs with several duos, trios, and bands throughout North America and Europe, and he enjoys teaching at camps and workshops, building and repairing instruments, publishing tune books, and recording. Peter Rowan once remarked: “Some of the best fiddling I've heard." 

Noted for distinguished capability in jazz and classical music, Forrest Marowitz has also been known to sing a classic Tom Waits song at just the right time. Trained at Colorado College, Marowitz studied with Keith Reed, banjoist for Open Road, a Colorado bluegrass band. After working extensively with the Rain City Ramblers for several years, Marowitz is now flourishing in the Seattle roots music scene as a versatile bassist. 

Book your lodging and ferry reservations early. This time of year is a very popular time to visit Orcas.

Below are some highlights of past festivals.