TeaFestPDX 2022 is a wrap!
More pictures than I usually share, but thought you might enjoy!
If you have followed me for awhile you will know I drink tea; but you might not know just how involved I am in the world of tea. One of the things I do is organize the British Tea Tent each year for TeaFestPDX (Portland, Oregon's Tea Festival). The tea festival began in 2016 and met in person for 4 years, then the next year we met on zoom due to the pandemic. We skipped last year, but were thrilled to pick it up again this year. Last Saturday was our event and we greeted around 1200 attendees.
My role each year has been to solely organize and execute the British Tea Tent. You can tell it is my tent by the flags draped around the tent.
Here are my morning volunteers. They were great at making tea, serving it to our guests, and wiping down the tables with disinfectant after each session.
In the afternoon my husband and a good friend volunteered. I will say my husband ("live-in gardener") also did the lion share of hauling everything to the tent and back to the car at the end of the event, plus running a couple other errands too. Needless to say, we were both exhausted when we returned home that night. I couldn't have done it without my great volunteers.
There were 6 events throughout the day. The one right above and below is Jennifer Petersen sharing the story of Blue Willow China. She has written several books related to tea and also mentors new tea entrepreneurs.
I love posting the sessions on my blackboard. My son helped by writing the schedule of the day for everyone to see.
I was thrilled to have Lorna Reeves join us this year. She is the editor of Tea Time Magazine and flew in from Birmingham, Alabama. What a treat to have her sharing about what her role is with the magazine. Tea Time Magazine has always donated magazines for us to hand out to attendees, but this year they shared their editor too.
Andy Hayes, owner of Plum Deluxe tea company, shared about making blended/flavored teas. When he started his business about 9 years ago he contacted me to do some taste testing for him. I don't normally drink blended/flavored teas, but enjoyed doing it for him. We had never met face to face; so it was fun to finally meet.
Lisa Hand comes every year and her presentations are always filled. She and her two assistants come in costume and share something that fits with tea in England. This year it was Tea with Jane Austen. The attendees love her presentations.
There were two other events in my tent. Sadly I didn't get pictures. At noon Lovejoy's Tearoom delivered afternoon tea to the tent and Susan Patterson did a poetry reading as attendees enjoyed teatime.
We finished the afternoon with Anne Johnson of Mamancy tearoom sharing her story of coming from Kenya and starting two tearooms during the pandemic. She also shared her story of making gorgeous chocolates that she sells in her shops.
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A tea festival! How wonderful and definitely something I would be into! I believe there have been some tea related events in the nearest city pre-pandemic, so I will keep my eyes open for anything along these lines!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you had good weather for this -- it looks just beautiful and loads of fun. What good speakers you had -- and how pretty it all is. Hats off to volunteers everywhere. I'm not sure how the world would work without them. And to you -- what an enormous task and clearly well done!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful day at the TeaFest, Marilyn. I didn't know you organized the tea tent every year, that nice. So good of your husband to help out with the hauling and errands, and your son helping out as well. This would be a fantastic event for tea lovers, hearing about making blended flavored teas and such. The story coming from Kenya sounds interesting, and I'd love to try the chocolates she sells in her shops. This event sounds simply delightful. Something that I'd love to attend. I'm glad it all went smoothly and turned out nicely for you this year, Marilyn.
ReplyDelete~Sheri
I'm so glad that you had good weather for your Tea Festival. You and your helpers worked so hard setting up and then serving tea during the event. The result was a wonderful day for everyone involved. You had some good speakers. I would have loved to have been there to hear the talk regarding Willow Pattern pottery and I would have enjoyed the activities that took place in your tent. I hope that the weather this week in Oregon is not too hot and you can all relax after such a successful event.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fabulous event! Loved all the photos, and your descriptive words to accompany them. It looks like it was the perfect day! I can only imagine how exhausted you and your live in gardener must have been! Hope you have recovered.... and are eagerly planning for next year. Kudos for a job well done!
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