The Eugene Tea Festival Returns With Tastings and Tea Circles

Tea enthusiasts, mark your calendars for the fourth annual Eugene Tea Festival, Sunday, May 31. More than 50 different vendors will provide complimentary samples of unique teas, such as mulberry, boba tea, kombucha, Taiwanese oolong and teas from Nepal, China and South Korea. Even if you don’t drink tea, you’ll be able to find something you enjoy from the diverse selection of flavors at the festival. As Madelaine Au, the tea festival’s executive director says, “If you say that you’re not a tea drinker, you haven’t tried everything.” Blue Lotus Chai, the festival’s gold sponsor, will provide samples of three different types of chai. Its community outreach program, Peace and Chai, will table alongside Willamette Farm & Food Coalition. Madeleine Sisson, Blue Lotus Chai’s marketing director, says that Peace and Chai works with Willamette Farm and Food, and that this event is in celebration of “our community food access programs.” The festival not only offers tea samples, but also tea circles — which are educational and interactive experiences in which groups gather for a tea meditation and discuss the tea they are drinking. In addition to tea, you can grab a bite to eat from food vendors, peruse eclectic works from numerous art vendors and try on alpaca wool products from fair trade clothing vendor Chasqui. The majority of vendors are local to Eugene, and the festival is the perfect opportunity to get connected with and support local businesses. — Ella Poor