The official press release for the Summer Loaf bread festival:
FOURTH ANNUAL SUMMER LOAF FESTIVAL ATTRACTS THRONGS OF BAKERS, TASTERS AND
AUTHORS
Region's Best Breads and New Wood-fired Oven to Lure Thousands to Downtown
Market
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The tastes, smells and feel of fresh bread will delight
the senses of visitors to Portland's Farmers Market when the annual Summer
Loaf: A Celebration of Bread rises on the South Park Blocks from 8 a.m. to
2 p.m. on Saturday, August 5. The nationally acclaimed Summer Loaf will
celebrate its fourth year with lavish displays of specialty breads from the
Northwest's best artisan bakeries. And unlike any other bread event in the
country, Summer Loaf's activities are complemented by the Market's vast
fresh produce offerings and colorful flowers of summertime. The Summer
Loaf is generously sponsored by Fisher Mills.
From baguettes to ciabatta, potato rolls to olive bread, the renowned
artisan bread bakers at the Portland Farmers Market's Summer Loaf celebrate
the great diversity of bread available in the region. Visitors to the
Summer Loaf can taste crusty samples from bakers, purchase freshly baked
loaves and pastries, meet and greet prominent bakers and learn all about
the bread baking craft -- from Harvest to Hearth. Other festivities
include an amateur baking contest sponsored by Bob's Red Mill, on-site
baking demonstrations using the Market's new wood-fired oven, plus Rolling
in the Dough, a bread baking class for kids.
More than 25 festival-related bakers and exhibitors will join the Market's
50 regular vendors to present their specialty breads and bread
accompaniments such as olive oil, herbed goat cheese, honey and jam, and
the bounty of Pacific Northwest growers. In addition to the on-site
festivities, Summer Loaf visitors will have the opportunity to participate
in baking activities and sample vendors' wares.
"Artisan breads handcrafted by Northwest bakers continue to shine above
other regions in the U.S.," says Carolyn Mistell, event manager for the
Summer Loaf. "The more than 10,000 visitors attending this special event
demonstrate the great enthusiasm for the art of bread-baking in our community."
The centerpiece of this year's Summer Loaf will be a new, authentic
wood-fired oven, which is currently being constructed by a small group of
Portland bakers and craftspeople. Using a design by noted brick oven
builder Alan Scott, this unique addition will serve as center stage for
demonstrations and a series of "oven chats" with some of the region's most
talented bakers.
Also this year, celebrated cookbook authors Carol Field, Peter Reinhart and
Maggie Gleser will be on hand to teach bread-baking classes and sign
cookbooks at the Borders Books booth.
Another favorite tradition of the festival is the amateur bread-baking
contest sponsored by Bob's Red Mill. Bakers eager to enter their best
loaves in the competition must deliver their entries by 8 a.m. at the
Summer Loaf site on the corner of SW Park and Montgomery. Contestants must
be 13 or older and cannot presently be or have been a professional
baker. Recipes must be made from scratch with at least one Bob's Red Mill
product. For more information about the amateur bread-baking contest, call
503/241-0032, or stop by any Portland-area Fred Meyer store to pick up an
official entry form and complete rules, available near the Bob's Red Mill
display in the stores' Nutrition Centers.
The Portland Farmers' Market was founded in 1992 by a small group of
community supporters, local farmers and food lovers, with a vision of
creating a positive focal point for community interaction and development,
and bringing a taste of the country into the heart of the city. As a
501(c)(6) non-profit , the Market is run by a volunteer board and
committees, and its market manager, Dianne Stefani-Ruff. For more
information, please call 503/241-0032.