Portland's annual celebration of all things fizzy, funky and alive is back on October 22, bringing dozens of free fermented foods and beverages to the Ecotrust building for one evening of kimchi, kombucha and cheese tasting. The Portland Fermentation Festival, affectionately nicknamed Stinkfest, runs from 6 to 9 pm at 721 NW 9th Ave., where local professional and amateur makers will set up tables loaded with sauerkraut, pickles, miso, natto, long-fermented breads and hard cider for attendees to sample at no extra cost.
Co-founder and organizer Liz Crain shared a lineup of fermented foods ahead of the event, as reported by KATU, including a kimchi omelet she prepared herself. Crain is one of three organizers known as the Stinkfest Queens, a trio that also includes Wanpaku Foods CEO and nutrition instructor Heidi Nestler and Urban Cheesecraft CEO Claudia Lucero, according to OPB. Each brings a distinct corner of the fermentation world to the festival's leadership, from food publishing to natto production to cheese-making kits.
A Strictly Non-Commercial Gathering
Unlike most food festivals, Stinkfest bars exhibitors from selling anything inside the venue, meaning every taste of kimchi or pour of kombucha is covered once attendees pay general admission. Stinkfest has always been non-commercial, with an emphasis on community and education. Tickets for the October 22 event run $15 in advance and $20 at the door, with kids 12 and under getting in free, per the festival's own ticketing information.
Attendees looking to participate rather than just taste can bring a small jar of homemade ferment under the festival's BYOF option, sharing their creations with fellow festivalgoers. The event also features a Starter Barter and Adoption Center, a swap for kombucha SCOBYs, sourdough starters and vinegar mothers, according to Ecotrust. It's a setup meant to help experienced home fermenters pass along extra culture strains to beginners.
Touch a SCOBY at the Bacterial Petting Zoo
One of the festival's features is the Bacterial Petting Zoo, where visitors can get up close and personal with SCOBYs and fermentation mothers. The station offers a close look at live microorganisms involved in fermentation.
The festival's technical standards keep things strictly alive: everything served is a live ferment made without heat processing or vinegar, spanning pickled vegetables and krauts to solid dairy, soy ferments and fermented fish or meat liquids, according to the Portland Fermentation Festival's own event standards. That distinction keeps the focus on live ferments.
A Pioneer With a Pandemic Pause
Stinkfest isn't new to the scene. The festival was founded in late 2009 by Liz Crain, David Barber and George Winborn as one of the first community festivals in the United States devoted entirely to fermented foods, per OPB's historical reporting. After its 10th anniversary event in 2019, the festival took a three-year pandemic hiatus before returning in person in October 2023, according to the Portland Mercury.
Crain published the cookbook Fermenter: DIY Fermentation for Vegan Fare with Portland chef Aaron Adams in October 2023, according to Penguin Random House.
