Who We Are
The Oregon Truffle Festival (OTF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and one of the country’s most esteemed culinary events. Devoted to Oregon’s native truffles and the burgeoning cultivation of European truffles in the state, the festival has been featured in Departures, the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The New York Times, Saveur, and National Geographic, among others. In 2020, OTF was voted the #5 Specialty Food Festival in the country by readers of USA Today.
Our Story
Despite Oregon’s more than 100 years of truffle research, its truffle industry is just being discovered. Secrecy pervades the world of truffles and is a part of their mystique, but it has not served Oregon’s truffles well, as secrecy precludes development of the knowledge necessary to bring the real potential of Oregon truffles to market. Simple details like how to choose and handle a truffle to tease out their spectacular culinary value are known to only a few harvesters and chefs. As a result, Oregon truffles are just beginning to receive the recognition they deserve.
In 2006, OTF’s founders understood that to support Oregon’s nascent truffle industry, we needed to celebrate our native truffles as the delicacies they are, at the same time ground was broken for growing a domestic supply of the illustrious French and Italian truffles. Oregon’s scientific tradition, its wealth of native truffles, and the advancement of technology and science around cultivating the European truffles have reached a confluence in Oregon, placing us at the forefront of the rapidly developing truffle industry in the US.
The Oregon Truffle Festival and its annual events in Oregon’s beautiful wine country bring together artisan food producers, chefs, speakers, industry experts, truffle growers, and an ever-growing community of truffle fans. We can now say with confidence that Oregon’s Willamette Valley is the premier destination for all things truffle in North America.
The festival has also sought to keep events accessible, with tickets to events starting at $15 per person. This democratic approach has helped expand the fanbase of, and access to, native Oregon truffles.
Over the past fifteen years, OTF has worked tirelessly to educate farmers, land owners, harvesters, truffle dog trainers, chefs, and consumers about every aspect of native truffles and truffle cultivation, while furthering the mycological research that began over 100 years ago at Oregon State University. As a nonprofit, the OTF expands on its “party with a purpose,” with more seasonal culinary, educational and training opportunities – essential to both a thriving seasonal food culture and the sustainable development of the cultivated truffle industry.