With SNAP BENEFITS SUSPENDED, 828,000 ANNUAL meals WILL disappear from Clatsop County tables.
join us November 23rd at the Astoria Armory for an Emergency Community Food Swap and Pantry Stock Event—proving that when everyone contributes what they can, there's enough for everyone.
ASTORIA hERITAGE
HARVEST FESTIVAL
About the Festival
For thousands of years, the Columbia River Delta has sustained communities through its incredible abundance. From the indigenous peoples who developed sophisticated systems of sharing and preservation, to waves of immigrants who adapted their traditions to this generous landscape, our region has always understood that food is culture, and culture is community.
The Astoria Heritage Harvest Festival celebrates this living heritage while addressing today's food security challenges. Like the classic Stone Soup tale, we invite every member of our community to contribute what they can - one dish, one story, one tradition - and together we create a feast of flavors, knowledge, and connections that nourishes everyone.
Emergency Community Food Swap and Pantry Stock Event
But our community can't wait until 2026. With 828,000 meals disappearing from Clatsop County tables starting this November due to SNAP benefit cuts, families need immediate support and practical skills to survive this winter. That's why we're launching an Emergency Community Food Swap and Pantry Stock Event on November 23rd at the Astoria Armory—a stone soup gathering for crisis times. Bring what you can spare, take what you need, and learn preservation and budget-stretching techniques from our community's knowledge holders. This emergency event becomes the foundation for our full Heritage Harvest Festival, proving that when neighbors support neighbors, there is always enough. Winter is here, and our community responds the way we always have: together.
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Our Mission
We gather to honor the food traditions that have sustained our community across generations while teaching practical skills that help families thrive today. This isn't just a celebration - it's a community resource that provides recipes, connections, and knowledge people can use all year long.
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Why This Matters
Our area faces significant food insecurity and economic challenges, yet we live in one of the most naturally abundant places on Earth. When people are fed and secure, they can focus on making better choices for themselves and their families. The festival bridges the gap between local abundance and community access through education, connection, and celebration.
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A Living History Lesson Through Food
Every dish tells a story - how Norwegian preservation techniques adapted to Pacific salmon, how Asian fermentation methods transformed local vegetables, how indigenous knowledge sustained communities sustainably for millennia, how families during the Depression stretched harvests through winter. We weave these stories together to understand how food connects us to place, to each other, and to resilient ways of living.
2026 Festival Experience
The Stone Soup Crawl: Move through stations where local farms, restaurants, cultural organizations, and community groups share samples of heritage dishes alongside the recipes and stories behind them. Leave with a complete cookbook of tested recipes, local sourcing information, and new connections to the producers and makers in your community.
Educational Workshops: Learn traditional food preservation, fermentation techniques, winter cooking strategies, and budget-friendly nutrition using local ingredients. Workshops led by cultural knowledge keepers, Master Food Preservers, and community experts.
Cultural Storytelling: Every participant shares their connection to local food heritage - from cranberry farmers to brewery founders, from food bank volunteers to immigrant families carrying forward ancestral traditions.
Mother Nature's Magic: Our beloved community performer brings the spirit of the Pacific Northwest to life, sharing seasonal wisdom and small treasures with festival-goers throughout the day.
Community Cookbook: Every attendee receives a professionally printed cookbook featuring all the recipes, cultural stories, and local sourcing information from the festival - a lasting resource for year-round use.
COMMUNITY EDUCATION
Heritage Food Preservation: Learn traditional techniques from multiple cultures - Nordic smoking methods, Asian fermentation, indigenous plant preservation, Depression-era stretching strategies.
Winter Survival Cooking: Practical workshops on preparing hearty, nutritious meals using seasonal ingredients and budget-friendly methods. Focus on stews, casseroles, breads, and preserved foods that help families thrive during lean months.
Cultural Bridge Building: Understanding how different communities developed similar solutions to seasonal challenges - from kimchi to sauerkraut to traditional indigenous preservation methods.
Intergenerational Knowledge Sharing: High school students document community food history as senior projects while learning from elders and cultural knowledge keepers.
Local Food Systems Education: Connecting the dots between farms, markets, restaurants, food assistance programs, and family tables - understanding the complete local food web.
The Heritage Cookbook
Each year's festival produces a beautiful, professionally illustrated cookbook featuring:
All participating recipes with local sourcing information
Cultural stories and traditional preparation methods
Seasonal timing guides and preservation techniques
Budget-friendly, nutritious winter survival recipes
Contact information for local producers and makers
Gorgeous original artwork celebrating regional food abundance
Free to all festival attendees, available for purchase to support ongoing community programs.