This year, the 44th Hood River Valley Harvest Festival costs less for people who live close enough to come back, and both October festivals at the Hood River Event Site now charge for what you actually use. The festival runs October 9 through 11 on Portway Avenue. A $10 ticket bought online gets you in on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. If you can walk or bike to the waterfront, Harvest Fest can now fit around a normal week. You might stop by after work on Friday, shop on Saturday morning, and go back Sunday for the garlic you didn't have room for.
A week earlier, the Orchard & Ale Festival made a similar change on the same lawn. Add the Gorge Grown farmers market, which moves to Portway Avenue for the winter, and the waterfront stays on the regular weekend schedule well after the festival tents come down.
What the Ticket Change Means
Last October, Harvest Fest used the more common pricing setup. Visit Hood River's 2025 listing showed $20 for the whole weekend and $12 for a single Saturday or Sunday. For 2026, the festival dropped the multi-day price to match a single day.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| All three days | $20 weekend ticket | $10 online, plus a $2.51 Eventbrite fee |
| One day | $12 for Saturday or Sunday | $10 at the gate, good that day only |
| Friday, military and adults 65+ | $5 | $5 |
| Kids under 12 | Not listed | Free all weekend |
| Hours | Fri 1–6, Sat 10–6, Sun 10–5 | Fri 1–6, Sat 10–6, Sun 10–5 |
The hours are the same as last year, so the schedule hasn't changed. Only the price of coming back has. The festival's own site calls the all-three-days online ticket "New this year." It also spells out that tickets bought at the gate are good only for the day you buy them. For anyone deciding on Thursday night, buying online takes care of the whole weekend. Buying at the gate takes care of one afternoon.
The Friday window from 1 to 6 p.m. is the one that fits a workday best. On Friday, military members and adults 65 and older get in for $5. Anyone arriving by bus can find regional routes through Gorge Pass and in-town service on Columbia Area Transit, both linked from the festival's visitor page.
The Weekend Before Changed Too
The first October festival on the Event Site made a similar change. The Hood River Orchard & Ale Festival held its second year on Saturday, October 3, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It used to be Hood River Hops Fest. The new name reflects pouring both fresh-hop beer and cider from the valley's orchards, with more than 80 beers and ciders expected.
This year, getting in was free. Anyone tasting bought a $35 package of 3-ounce samples, plus a $4.19 Eventbrite fee, in place of the old tokens, and festival glassware cost $10. So someone who just wanted the live music, the fall food and the craft market could walk in without paying anything.
Both festivals now charge the most to the people who use the most. Coming through the gate costs nothing or close to it, and the money is in the tasting package or the first ticket. Visit Hood River described the two as "back-to-back October weekends" on the waterfront, a few minutes from downtown.
Who's in the Tents This Year
The festival expects more than 80 artists and makers under three marketplace tents, along with a farmers market, food carts, live music, kids' activities, and local beer, cider, wine and spirits. A 2025 listing advertised more than 70 arts, crafts and food vendors. A bigger market makes a second visit more worthwhile, especially when the second visit costs nothing extra.
The farm and food lists on the festival site are a good place to start:
- From the valley and nearby farms: Kiyokawa Orchards, Pear Bloom Farm, Secret Valley Produce, Columbia Gorge Garlic, Lazy Z Ranch Farms, Raw Oregon Honey, Wild Oak Regenerative Farm, Dancing Light Ranch, Ahtanum Berry Patch and Vanguard Nursery
- Baked goods and sweets: KOKIKOKI Bakehouse, Édeske Patisserie, Gorge's Tortes and Mini Munk's Donuts
- Lunch: Empanadas Maria Elba, La Jitana, Urban German, Hap Restaurant, Tacos Pepe, T-Quito El Hambre and MidCity SmashedBurger
- Coffee and something cold: Kailea Coffee, Columbia Gorge Crepes and Frosty Peak Ice Cream
- Something to pour: Klickitat Canyon Winery
The festival's live-music page didn't list any performers when we checked, so look there again before you go if a particular act decides which day you attend.
Because the ticket covers all three days, a shopping plan can stretch over the weekend. Buy produce Saturday morning while there's plenty on the tables. Eat at a different food cart each day. On Sunday afternoon, see whether Kiyokawa still has the apples you passed up.
Around Town the Same Fortnight
The three-day ticket also makes it easier to fit other plans into the weekend, and early October in Hood River has plenty of them. Here's how the next few weeks look in date order, mostly from Hood River Eats' October 1 roundup:
- Thursdays, starting October 1: Prime Time Thursdays in the lounge at Riverside Restaurant run 5 to 9 p.m., with a prime rib special and the return of the Plum Fairy cocktail, made with Clear Creek Distillery plum brandy.
- First weekend of October: Pine Street Bakery brings out Pumpkin Pie Cruffins, Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins and Pumpkin Cream Scones. Its fall lunch menu is planned for that weekend and its fall drink menu for the week after. Also that weekend, Kiyokawa Family Orchards holds Fiesta Days with mariachi music played by Kiyokawa employees, piñatas and haywagon rides, and Crimson Crisp apples are ready for U-pick along with 17 other varieties.
- October 5 through 8: The Cauldron Café at 1810 Cascade Ave. closes while the team reworks its menu. When it reopens, look for new grab-and-go items and frozen quarts of soup. No reopening date had been announced, so check the café's updates before you go.
- October 9 through 11: Harvest Fest on the waterfront. On Saturday, October 10, downtown White Salmon hosts the Mountain Town Throwdown, presented by Everybody's Brewing, with more than 25 artisan vendors and a stein-holding competition. With one ticket good all weekend, you can spend Saturday across the river and still catch Harvest Fest on Friday and Sunday.
- October 16 and 17: Marchesi Vineyards on Belmont Avenue hosts Fall Winemaker's Dinners. Each night starts at 6:30 p.m. with Prosecco and appetizers, then moves to the main cellar for a multi-course dinner paired with the latest wine club release.
- October 24: pFriem Family Brewers' Myths & Moonlight pFeast runs from 4 to 7:30 p.m. at its blending facility at 1425 Columbia Gorge Way in Cascade Locks, with a four-course seasonal dinner.
Pear Bloom Farm is also celebrating Día de los Muertos from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. over three weekends, with something different each weekend. If you liked the farm's table at the festival, this is a good reason to drive out.
After the Tents Come Down, the Waterfront Stays on the Schedule
The waterfront doesn't empty out after Harvest Fest closes Sunday at 5 p.m. Gorge Grown's Hood River Farmers Market keeps its regular Saturday hours, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 501 Columbia St., through November 21. From December 2026 through April 2027, the winter market runs on the first and third Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 403 Portway Ave.
That address will sound familiar to anyone who has found Mookie, pastry chef Lindsay Gott's cookie window. Its website lists 403 Portway Ave., on the waterfront lawn behind Ferment Brewing. So a winter market Saturday puts the farmers market and a cookie stop on the same lawn.
Harvest Fest's ticket change, Orchard & Ale's free entry and the winter market's Portway address all make the waterfront easier to visit more than once. A ticket that costs the same for one day or three gives you a reason to go back. A market that moves to Portway in December gives you a reason to keep going back until spring.
If a few October afternoons at the Event Site have you curious about what your own place near the waterfront might be worth this fall, Julie Gilbert is happy to talk it through over coffee from one of the festival carts. Get your free home valuation whenever the timing works for you.
