Portland Sake Event – “Fuyu Fest 2025”
Fuyu Fest 2025
Saturday, February 22nd, 2025, 1-5PM
Irving Street Studio, Ecotrust Building
Portland, Oregon
Entering our third year, Fuyu Fest is an exploratory, educational, PNW Winter-themed sake festival, with activities, demos, food, artists and cultural activities in addition to tasting a curated collection of 85 (nearly 100!) different sake with the passionate people who make and import them. Local food, coffee, snack and treat vendors will have lunch & snacks available from 1PM onward as well as local artists and craftspeople. Starting at 2PM, passionate sake professionals will fill your glasses and your minds. As always, 20% of each ticket is donated to local nonprofit Ikoi no Kai, a historic Portland lunch program for the elder Nikkei community.
So why a sake festival in Winter, when it's so cold and gloomy in the Pacific Northwest?
Well, that's just the thing. Here in Oregon we have a cold and dark, but also beautiful and cozy Winter. The Japanese traditions of yukimizake (sake while snow watching), sake onsen (sake while bathing in an onsen), kanzake (sake warming), and the release of fresh shiboritate brews make Winter a fantastic time to embrace sake in-- and visit-- the PNW.
In 2025, we're exploring all sorts of collaborations and activities to enjoy while you imbibe:
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A cozy Manga Lounge with gacha and egg salad sandos from Portland's newest independent Japanese bookstore, Reggie's Manga Lounge (grand opening March 1!)
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Shodo Performance: Multi-award winning Japanese calligraphy (shodo) artists Sora will conduct a live performance, inspired in the moment by the flavor and experience of the sake she is tasting– (one made by a visiting brewer we're thrilled to have this opportunity to honor!)
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Deep dive breakaway sessions
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The soft launch of Haccoba, Fukushima craft sake in the US, as well as the official launch of Okome Kitchen: PDX local amazake!
And perhaps, most exciting of all..
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The return of hot sake mixologists/experts Okan Lover, with the OKAN LOVERS BAR! From Tokyo-based okan (hot sake) restaurant Takasaki no Okan, Okan Lover is a project spreading the joy of sake through okan. At the OKAN LOVERS BAR, seated guests will experience a lineup of different styles of hot sake, techniques, methods, and styles, with the opportunity to ask questions and dive deeper.
Okan Lover will be traveling south after Fuyu Fest for a much-anticipated West Coast Tour, so keep an eye out for events in SF & LA the week after Fuyu Fest!
Fuyu Fest is a project from Sunflower Sake, Portland's only dedicated sake shop and tasting room. I'm a long-time lover of True Sake and a Bay Area native, and I founded Sunflower in October 2021 after several years of working in wine because I really wanted to see a community outpost of our own: somewhere for Oregonians to taste, learn, attend sake classes, get hype about your trip to Japan or the koji coffee you just bought. Or simply to become a part of our friendly little community, which is really just an extension of the same community you'll find at True Sake in SF (we have already adopted many a Bay Area expat!) I view Sunflower as a second-generation sake shop inspired by the trailblazers who set up 10-20 years ago, sharing all the same passion and goals, but with a different perspective. So next time you're in Portland, please come say hello!
Sunflower Sake
107 SE Washington St. #121
Portland, OR 97214
www.sunflowersake.com