From blue cheese and Gouda to muenster and more, the Oregon Cheese Festival will tempt cheese lovers with platters of the finest dairy delights from across the region and outside state lines, all complimented by specialty foods and bountiful beverages.

Set from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 27, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, April 28, the weekend festival put on by the Oregon Cheese Guild, will return to the Jackson County Expo, 1 Peninger Road, in Central Point, with 100-plus vendors showcasing their cheesy creations and complimentary artisanal goods.

Tickets are $25 in advance for one-day passes to the festival with a $15 add-on cost to also take part in beverage sampling and receive a commemorative glass. The festival also offers a V.I.P. package that includes early entry at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with a two-day pass to the event and a goodie bag.

To purchase tickets, visit oregoncheesefestival.com.

“This year, we’ve really got a nice selection,” said Katie Bray, executive director of the Oregon Cheese Guild. “I would say come hungry, because one of the requirements for our vendors is to put out samples.”

Cheese makers from around the state will be in attendance, from local companies such as Rogue Creamery in Central Point all the way to Dundee’s Briar Rose Creamery and Don Froylan Creamery in Salem.

“We’re really excited to be a part of the cheese community, it’s a fantastic community event surrounded by all these amazing makers, and it’s a special opportunity for us as craftsmen to share with our community and visitors from the state and beyond,” said Marguerite Merritt, marketing manager and cheese emissary for Rogue Creamery. “We will probably have between six and nine cheese samples at our table, and this time we’ll have two cheese sampling tables.”

The Central Point based creamery has earned international acclaim for its Rogue River Blue, a blue cheese that received World Champion Cheese status at the 2019-2020 World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy.

For Merritt, the cheese emissary looks forward to connecting with other makers and showcasing the creamery’s renowned cheese.

“I love being able to get out there in front of our community and seeing firsthand their reactions when testing our product; as cheesemakers, often our work is behind the scenes,” Merritt said. “Whether they’re cheesemakers or beer and wine producers or jams and preserves and all sorts of prepared goods, I love being able to connect with the makers as well.”

While the Oregon Cheese Festival has been managed by the Oregon Cheese Guild since 2018, the event was originally hosted at the Rogue Creamery parking lot and conceived by David Gremmels, who retired last year as president of Rogue Creamery.

The festival unofficially began in 2005 with Oregon Cheese Guild members involved, eventually moving to Rogue Creamery’s cheddar make room, offering tabletop tasting stations with mozzarella-making classes and other activities.

Over the years, the Oregon Cheese Festival has expanded to a two-day program with 4,000-plus visitors attending last year’s event. It recently moved to The Expo after years of being held at Rogue Creamery, giving organizers extra space for more vendors and more visitors.

“This move to The Expo has been great, there’s tons of free parking next to the event space and plenty of room for vendors and the facilities make everything easy,” Bray said.

Beyond the plentiful plates of cheese to check out, the festival has ample beverages to taste alongside other complimentary artisanal goods.

“One thing you see a lot of is hot sauces, also jams and jellies,” Bray said. “We also get gelato, ice cream, chocolate, charcuterie, crackers — everything you could think of that goes great with cheese.”

This year’s Cheese Festival is also the first time the Cheesemaker Dinner will return since 2020, giving cheese connoisseurs the opportunity to mingle with some of the most prominent purveyors of the dairy delight in the region and beyond. The event also offers multi-course, cheese-themed meals paired with craft beverages from around the state.

Tickets for the dinner are $100, and include drinks and gratuity. As of press time, limited seats remain.

To learn more about the annual festival, visit oregoncheesefestival.com.