Feast tickets sell like hotcakes. You might’ve missed your shot at the buzzy new Smoked! event (a live-fire extravaganza near the Fremont Bridge), but we’re jazzed about the Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting this year, which isn’t sold out, and has a few surprising special guests. 

Not only do ticketholders have access to the vast Pacific Northwest showroom, with Oregon’s best cheese, wine, and chocolate on display in one place, this year’s Oregon Bounty features a “Feast Culinary Stage”—a panel of food experts and chefs from around the country, with running commentary, Q & A’s, and food competitions. The Feast team describes the stage as “where food and drink meet The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Andy Cohen’s Clubhouse.” For $60, it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Friday (Sept 18)

Food television stars and baking gods Elizabeth Falkner and Duff Goldman, Chopped television casting expert Beth Schiff, and Feast’s own Carrie Welch will get real about Food TV. Ever wonder what it’s really like behind the scenes? Here’s your chance to find out. Later in the day, workout-obsessives/health nuts Gregory Gourdet (Departure), and Joshua McFadden (Ava Genes) will battle in a friendly juicing competition. Between the vegetable whisperer and the Top Chef star, who knows what will go down.  

Saturday (Sept 19)

Ned Ludd’s Jason French and Olympia Provision’s Elias Cairo will offer tips and tricks to making the world’s best sandwiches, followed by a heated sandwich competition between the two Portland icons. Later, Portland Monthly’s own food critic Karen Brooks will moderate a discussion on “Things You Need to Eat Before You Die” between offal king Chris Cosentino (Cockscomb, SF), Lincoln’s Jenn Louis, and Jackie Kai Ellis (Vancouver B.C.’s Beaucoup Bakery & Café), one of Canada’s most impressive bakers. Will their final meal be pig snout, gnocchi, or a simple croissant? After listening, you may want to adjust your own culinary bucket list.

Oregon Bounty Grand Tasting
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Friday, 1-5pm and Saturday, 12-5pm
Tickets Here