Happening now until 4 p.m., the Gales Creek Strawberry Festival has returned after a five year hiatus.
Located in the heart of Gales Creek at the Gales Creek Church and the Gales Creek School, visitors will hear live music, smell hot dogs and hamburgers, see about three dozen craft, plant, and food vendors, and of course, the pièce de résistance: handmade strawberry shortcake.
$10 for a large size and $5 for a small, the shortcake comes with complimentary lemonade, coffee, and water.
Tom’s Berry Patch will sell fresh strawberries until they run out.
Rounding out the experience are representatives from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office posse, the Tualatin Soil and Water Conservation District, the Gales Creek Journal (oh hey, that’s us! Find us at the info booth) and Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.
For those looking to add on to their desserts, there’s shave ice, and food will be served by Bumper Burger and Franko Hot Dogs. A face painting vender for the kids is on-site, and the live music starts with Pete Day opening with bluegrass and musicians Tim Clausen and Jim Evans playing country and rockabilly, respectively, while Big Country will close out the live music lineup.
Parking and the event are free.
The Gales Creek School is located in downtown Gales Creek at 9125 NW Sargent Road.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Gales Creek Journal and sister news publications the Banks Post and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.