FEAST Portland, the food festival that drew people from all over the nation to our local food scene has taken its last bow.
Gutted to get this press release this morning from Mike Thelin of FEAST Portland –
Dear Friends,
In an interview with Karen Brooks at Portland Monthly Magazine today, I shared the news that our festival would not be returning—not in 2023 and not ever again.
Such a message would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago, but a lot has changed since early 2020—both for our organization and for the communities with which we are aligned.
You can read more in Karen’s article here.
Looking back, I’m grateful for the eight years of Feast from 2012 to 2019, and especially grateful to the core team that made Feast a reality. Above all: three people. Thank you to my brilliant and creative original co-conspirators Carrie Welch and Jannie Huang: Portland will forever be grateful to both of you. And thank you to our tireless director Emily Crowley who led the team with muscle and heart for more than a decade. Even as the last two years sent the four of us in new directions, our time together was truly magical. Without this core group of people, there would have been no Feast Portland.
To everyone else on Team Feast, our core collaborators, our friends in the chef and restaurant community, our partners and sponsors, vendors and guests, thank you for believing and investing in our vision.
In 2012, we set out to create a culinary festival that was worthy of the city we loved, valuable to the industry we represented, and relevant in the world of food. I’m proud to say that Feast succeeded on all counts, and looking back, probably ended when it needed to.
Looking forward, we may have some surprises to share. And for those of you wondering, we have had fun with our new Feast newsletter, and we plan to keep that going. (So don’t unsubscribe yet!)
Thanks to all who have feasted with us.
We love you.
Mike Thelin
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