It’s the frangipani hootenanny for the northwest tea folks. 

The NW Tea Festival rolls into Fischer Pavilion at the Seattle Center in seven weeks. There are vendors galore, tea products and wares to buy, tasting sessions to imbibe, and herds of tea people with which to mingle. It’s an opportunity to make new friends and taste new teas. For a modest entry fee of $10, you receive a take home tea cup with which to taste to your heart’s content. Most of the vendors have tastings of several of their teas. Try them all; Fischer Pavilion has bathrooms!

This is learning about tea without having to buy huge quantities of some obscure tea and finding out that it was awful and you wouldn’t even serve it to your visiting Aunt Em, who can’t go home soon enough. Amen!

Last year, I tasted nearly everything, and brought home 6 new teas, 5 of which I am still drinking a year later. One was an impulse buy. Beware of eye catching labels.

Avoiding the $10 entry fee is easy: volunteer. These things don’t run by themselves. Volunteering introduces you to other enthusiasts, tea vendors before the rush of people, and a whole host of swell people (the festival organizers) who will be eternally grateful for your community support. Volunteering is done your way: a few hours, half day, full day, two days. You decide.

Not everywhere has a tea festival. Montana, for instance. We are lucky that a group of people are willing to take on this thankless task. And your support in the way of volunteering is awesome. 

Come to the NW Tea Festival Oct 5 & 6th. 

Or………….stay home and wash your hair and paint your fingernails.