Seattle Center turns into the region's biggest tea party this weekend as the Northwest Tea Festival sets up shop in the Exhibition Hall, bringing more than 50 vendors and tea experts together for tastings, workshops, talks and tea wares. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday.
As Axios describes it, the event has become known as Seattle's biggest tea party, typically drawing more than 3,500 people over the two-day run. A two-day pass costs $25 and includes tastings, lectures, a reusable tote and a porcelain tasting cup, according to the same report.
The Festival's Beginnings
The festival didn't start out this big. It grew out of a 2007 challenge from tea author James Norwood Pratt, who urged Puget Sound tea leaders to mark the 400th anniversary of tea's arrival in Europe with a public celebration, according to Edible Seattle. That challenge led to the festival's inaugural edition in the fall of 2008.
The festival is organized and produced by the Puget Sound Tea Education Association, a Seattle-based non-profit with local tea merchants and educators involved, according to the Northwest Tea Festival.
The event's volunteer-run educational programming has earned recognition well beyond Seattle. In June 2018, it was named Best Grassroots Education Campaign at the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas, per the same organization's account.
Japanese Tea Traditions and Zero-Proof Mocktails Share the Stage
Sugimoto Tea, a Japanese green tea company, is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2026. Executive Kyohei Sugimoto is scheduled to present on the history and modern culture of Japanese tea, the North American Post reports.
The 2026 schedule also leans into current beverage trends. A featured presentation from non-alcoholic sommelier Juanita Unger will explore how tea and tisanes are being used as bases for zero-proof mocktail mixology, reflecting the broader rise of botanicals in non-alcoholic spirits, according to the Northwest Tea Festival's presentation schedule.
Hands-on workshop sessions require online pre-registration and are limited to 30 participants, with attendance limited to one workshop per ticket holder, Tea Journey notes. Tea Journey reported that all workshops for the 2026 festival were full when it published its page.
A Hub for a Growing National Tea Habit
Nationally, iced tea accounts for 75% to 80% of all tea consumed in the United States, per the Tea Association of the U.S.A.
For those craving more Puget Sound tea news, Hoodline recently covered how a gelato-tea mashup replaced a boba chain at Bellevue Connection.
