The 2017 Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival is Saturday, September 23, 1-5pm, at Pear Blossom Park, Medford.

In Southern Oregon, the famed Rogue River historically hosted massive runs of both chinook (king) and coho (silver) salmon. This makes Medford the perfect place for the unique, family-friendly Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival, which celebrates the mouth-watering sapidity of smoked salmon in myriad forms.

Attendees will enjoy the opportunity to sample an array of smoked salmon offerings, while enjoying local and regional wines, beer, and other foods from the Rogue Valley. A highlight of the festival is the smoked salmon competition, in which cash prizes are awarded to the winner as determined by the voting public—for a modest entry fee and advance registration, the contest is open to anyone. Festival attendees receive three voting tickets with the purchase of festival tickets. During this one-day event on September 23rd, which runs from 1:00pm to 5:00pm at Medford’s beautiful Pear Blossom Park, live music will entertain guests and children can enjoy carnival games and the park playground.

The Southern Oregon Smoked Salmon Festival not only celebrates an Oregon culinary mainstay, but also supports a fantastic cause: the event is the major public fundraiser for Maslow Project, A nonprofit grassroots organization based in Medford that provides basic needs, crisis intervention, advocacy, street outreach, and essential support services to homeless children and their families in Southern Oregon. The project’s overall mission is to offer every homeless child and youth the probability of success and the opportunity for a better life by providing resources for basic needs, removing barriers to education and employment, and fostering self-sufficiency in a collaborative and empowering environment. A key objective of this locally conceived organization is to help provide enough stability in the lives of children so that they can stay in school and complete their educations.

For more information about Maslow Project and other ways to provide essential financial support to the organization, please visit www.maslowproject.com.