Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival in full-tilt planning mode
Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival in full-tilt planning mode
Long before the fields around Walla Walla, WA, showed even a hint of green in 2007, planning for the 23rd annual Sweet Onion Festival had reached a fever pitch in the administrative office of Kathy Fry, director of marketing for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee.
Ms. Fry, who has overseen the festival since 2003, said that plans for this year's two-day event, slated for July 21-22 at the county fairgrounds, have been ongoing since January, when she began contacting sponsors, vendors, entertainment and volunteers.
"We want to make sure all our ducks are in a row," she said. "It's going to be a huge festival this year and will include a sanctioned barbecue contest, chefs demonstration, wine tasting, music festival, arts and crafts, motorcycle poker run, fun run, silent auction, indoor art show, pancake breakfast and lots more."
Coinciding with the peak shipping period of the famed Walla Walla sweet onion, which is produced only in an area established by the decades-old federal and state marketing orders governing the committee, the festival celebrates a segment of the region's history that goes back more than 100 years.
The seeds of the mild, fresh-only Walla Walla Sweet came from Corsica, brought to this country in the late 1800s by French soldier Peter Pieri, who settled in the eastern Washington valley.
In 1905, Italian immigrant Joe Locati came to the region and began working for Mr. Pieri. Not long afterward, Mr. Locati, grandfather of the Locati family of growers well known in the industry, began growing the onions on land he farmed, and the onion's place in sweet onion market took root.
Ms. Fry expects some five dozen vendors at this year's festival, and she said that 15-20 serious barbecue competitors would take part in the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association's sanctioned contest.
The pancake breakfast will be held each morning and will benefit Walla Walla Crime Prevention, and both days a recipe contest for Walla Walla Sweet dishes will be held, as will live cooking demos coordinated by Mike Davis, owner and chef of 26brix.
Even as she planned for the celebration during winter 2006-07, Ms. Fry said in mid-March that she also contended with other administrative tasks such as explaining marketing order compliance to people from outside the area. "It's one of the first things I do every year," she said of the compliance matter. "I received a phone call from a man in Texas who said he'd seen a large sign in a major retail store advertising 'Walla Walla Sweets grown in Texas.' "
Ms. Fry said, "There's no such animal. The man who reported this was aware of our marketing order, but between now and harvest, I will get more calls from folks who say they bought onions advertised as ours during the winter. There are no Walla Walla Sweet storage onions, so they really bought another type of onion using our name."
Retailers and consumers alike should look for stickers or labels bearing the official "Genuine Walla Walla Sweets" logo, she said.
Ms. Fry went on to say that she is promoting the June-September onions at a number of trade events this spring, including the upcoming Oregon- Washington Restaurant Association's Northwest foodservice trade show at the Portland Convention Center.
Ms. Fry, who has overseen the festival since 2003, said that plans for this year's two-day event, slated for July 21-22 at the county fairgrounds, have been ongoing since January, when she began contacting sponsors, vendors, entertainment and volunteers.
"We want to make sure all our ducks are in a row," she said. "It's going to be a huge festival this year and will include a sanctioned barbecue contest, chefs demonstration, wine tasting, music festival, arts and crafts, motorcycle poker run, fun run, silent auction, indoor art show, pancake breakfast and lots more."
Coinciding with the peak shipping period of the famed Walla Walla sweet onion, which is produced only in an area established by the decades-old federal and state marketing orders governing the committee, the festival celebrates a segment of the region's history that goes back more than 100 years.
The seeds of the mild, fresh-only Walla Walla Sweet came from Corsica, brought to this country in the late 1800s by French soldier Peter Pieri, who settled in the eastern Washington valley.
In 1905, Italian immigrant Joe Locati came to the region and began working for Mr. Pieri. Not long afterward, Mr. Locati, grandfather of the Locati family of growers well known in the industry, began growing the onions on land he farmed, and the onion's place in sweet onion market took root.
Ms. Fry expects some five dozen vendors at this year's festival, and she said that 15-20 serious barbecue competitors would take part in the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association's sanctioned contest.
The pancake breakfast will be held each morning and will benefit Walla Walla Crime Prevention, and both days a recipe contest for Walla Walla Sweet dishes will be held, as will live cooking demos coordinated by Mike Davis, owner and chef of 26brix.
Even as she planned for the celebration during winter 2006-07, Ms. Fry said in mid-March that she also contended with other administrative tasks such as explaining marketing order compliance to people from outside the area. "It's one of the first things I do every year," she said of the compliance matter. "I received a phone call from a man in Texas who said he'd seen a large sign in a major retail store advertising 'Walla Walla Sweets grown in Texas.' "
Ms. Fry said, "There's no such animal. The man who reported this was aware of our marketing order, but between now and harvest, I will get more calls from folks who say they bought onions advertised as ours during the winter. There are no Walla Walla Sweet storage onions, so they really bought another type of onion using our name."
Retailers and consumers alike should look for stickers or labels bearing the official "Genuine Walla Walla Sweets" logo, she said.
Ms. Fry went on to say that she is promoting the June-September onions at a number of trade events this spring, including the upcoming Oregon- Washington Restaurant Association's Northwest foodservice trade show at the Portland Convention Center.
