Get your tickets today!

$20 per car (includes $8 State Parks fee).
Special event bus fee for small capacity bus (24 person or fewer): $100.
Special event bus fee for large capacity bus (greater than 24 person): $225.
Food and drink purchased separately. Questions?
Email us at info@fortross.org, call us at 707/847-3437.

Grab a Pint at our 3rd Annual Beer Garden!

Fort Ross Festival’s Beer Garden, with its incredible front row seat to the Pacific Ocean, offers a great variety of delicious food and cold beverages for you to enjoy while listening to live Americana music. This year is bigger than ever!  We are thrilled to have the continued support from local  Lagunitas Brewing Co. and Tilted Shed Ciderworks, and new this year we will also be serving beer generously donated from our new partners North Coast Brewing Company, 101 North Brewing Co., Uinta Brewing Co. and more cider from Sonoma Cider!  We’ll have a wide variety of beers from each brewer, from hoppy IPAs to rich, roasty Stouts.

Call Picnic Music
Enjoy your lunch  in the warm coastal sun while listening to the Americana melodies of The Bootleg Honeys and The Betty Blues. The Bootleg Honeys has quickly become one of the Bay Area’s favorite Americana acts. Their sweet and lively sound features impeccable three-part harmony and musicianship, as well as a hefty collection of finely crafted original material that will pull your heartstrings and get your boots stompin’. With soulful tunes born out of heartache and whiskey, The Betty Blues combines country and folk rhythms with haunting melodies and deep sultry vocals.

Performers

While the Call Picnic Area is alive with Americana music, the historic Fort Ross compound will have a variety of traditional Russian performers. And outside the compound the Kashia Pomo group Su Nu Shinal will dance their traditional dances in their spiritual dance circle.

• Russian House Kedry generously brings Fort Ross to life during the festival and each season with interactive celebrations including traditional Russian folk songs, dances, rituals, games, crafts and baking.

• East Bay women’s vocal arts ensemble Kitka is inspired by traditional songs and vocal techniques from Eastern Europe. Their exquisite harmonies resonate as if energized by the universe itself. A Kitka trio will perform at this year’s festival. Special thanks to the California Arts Council for supporting Kitka’s performances at Fort Ross.

• Slavyanka Chorus brings their rich program of Russian sacred and folk music to Fort Ross –ancient church music from Russia’s past sung in the Chapel…and wild Cossack songs in the yard! Don’t miss this wonderful choral group, a long standing tradition of Fort Ross Festival. The Kashia were the first people known to have lived in the area that is now Fort Ross, and they continue to live on these lands today.
• The Bay Area folk group Dolina revives traditions of different regions of Russia, focusing on authentic folklore singing and dancing of Cossacks. This will be their first time performing at Fort Ross Festival.

• Su Nu Nu Shinal, which means Huckleberry Heights, are Kashia Pomo and Coast Miwok Indians from California who have been performing traditional dance for over 40 years. They will dance in their traditional dance circle on the ocean terrace outside the fort compound.

International Food Bazaar

Choose from a wonderful variety of local vendors in our International Food Bazaar! From fresh oysters, crab cakes and salmon burgers from Northwest Catering Company (Estero Cafe) of Valley Ford, traditional Russian borscht and piroshki from the brand new Russian House #1 in Jenner, or  slow smoked BBQ with fresh coleslaw from BBQ Smokehouse Bistro & Catering. We’ll also offer Californian & European style crepes filled with sweet or savory options from Ultra Crepes, or for a taste of India check out Curry Sensations Chicken or Butternut Squash Curry Rice plates, or Fried Fish Pakora.  For a refreshing and healthful treat, have a serving of Juice Runners Red, Gold & Green veggie/fruit juice mixes, or warm up with an organic hot espresso from Julianne’s Espresso Connection.  We’re also thrilled to welcome back  the incredible flavors of homemade, award-winning, small batch ice cream from Nimble & Finn’s.

Choose from three amazing salad choices generously donated by Whole Foods Petaluma.Fort Ross Conservancy’s Marine Ecology Program (MEP) offers a wonderful opportunity for youth to learn about local marine ecology at Fort Ross. Elementary, middle, and high school students spend one or two days immersed in the day-to-day tasks of a marine biologist. FRC’s Marine Ecology Program is underwritten in part by the California Coastal Commission and Renova Fort Ross Foundation.

A Tale of Fort Ross

We are thrilled to welcome all the way from Pskov, Russia, the very talented Vera Belius, illustrator of the upcoming book A Tale of Fort Ross, published in partnership with Renova Fort Ross Foundation. Vera will hold art classes in the fort compound for children and adults alike to demonstrate and teach techniques in creative drawing.

Craftspeople Demonstrating Hands-On Crafts

Settlement Ross was one of the first industrial centers of California, and many skilled craftspeople were hard at work here, building California’s first ships, windmill, clay bricks, barrels, and much more. Today you can watch a blacksmith, tinsmith, weaver, spinner, felt maker, laundress, soap maker, carpenter, broom maker and many others busily preparing their wares, perhaps to trade with the Spanish, Mexicans or Bostonians. Several of the crafts allow you to join the fun–learn to make your own rope, mini-basket, or candle.

Alaska Native Crafts

We welcome Marc Daniels of Make Access Iqyax back to Fort Ross where he’ll continue his traditional boat build of our double iqyax.  And this year we are thrilled to have Andrew Abyo, Alutiiq artist and culture bearer carving paddles and throwing boards.

Ranch-era Call House Museum Walkthrough

George W. Call built this residence in 1878 as a headquarters for the ranch and shipping operations, and a home for their family, which eventually included nine children. The house museum, first open to visitors in May, 2003, is an excellent example of the Early California Ranch period. Many of the furnishings belonged to the Call family. During Fort Ross Festival the Call House Museum will be open for limited viewing only.

Fort Ross Festival Activities

Proposed Schedule (subject to change):

10:00 to 6:30       Fort Ross Conservancy Bookshop in the Visitor Center offers great Fort Ross items for sale
10:00 to 6:30       Enjoy the Museum and our 18-minute introductory Fort Ross video
10:00 to 4:00       Historic crafts, cooking demonstrations, story telling, singing groups Slavyanka, Kedry, Kitka, & Dolina in the fort compound
11:00 to 5:30       International Food Bazaar (Call Picnic Area)
11:30 to 5:30       Beer Garden (Call Picnic Area), also serving coffee & tea
12:30 to 4:30       Horse and Carriage ride (free!) between Windmill and Fort Compound
1:00 to 4:00         Ranch-era Call House walk through
4:30 to 5:00         Kedry and Kitka (Marine Terrace)
5:00 to 5:30         Su Nu Nu Shinal (Dance Circle)

California State Parks supports equal access. Prior to arrival, visitors with disabilities who need assistance should contact 707/847-3437.  Please leave your dogs at home, Thank you.

We would like to thank Renova Fort Ross Foundation for generously funding this event.