About

It all started when…

There is an indigo growing extravaganza going here on the Oregon Coast, with no end in sight. Since 2017 we have been growing and extracting Indigo all around Clatsop County, on farms, in gardens and on back decks, and we are excited to share its magical hue with you.

Maybe it is the blue waters of the mighty Columbia River and Pacific Ocean, or perhaps it is the way our rainforest dwelling hearts sing when the sky is that rare cloudless hue. Or it might be how the long dark wet winters inspire lots of fiber arts, whatever the cause, natural indigo feeds our soul.

You might say we have a wee bit of a fixation. It all started when Brittany Boles got some Japanese Indigo, Persicaria tinctoria, seeds from Kara Gibbs of Vibrant Valley Farm on Sauvie Island in 2017. ( Kara got her first seeds from Roland Ricketts in 2016…) Brittany teamed up with Ginger Edwards of North Fork 53 in Nehalem to grow it. That first year she shared seedlings with Kestrel Gates, who shared with Iris Sullivan Daire, and everybody shared cuttings with still more people…

By spring of 2018, inspired by our success, we knew we needed to share the indigo adventure, and celebrate what was happening. The first Indigofest happened as a one day event at North Fork 53 in August 2018. Brittany and Iris were joined by Kyla Sjogren in teaching a day bursting at the seams with indigo goodness. Including fresh leaf dyeing, vat dyeing, and the first 100% local vat made using our own pigment, oyster shell lime, and salal berries as a reducer.

The 2019 edition of Indigofest extended to being a 3 day event, and Kara Gibbs of Vibrant Valley joined the teaching team. Ginger Edwards made beautiful farm to table meals to keep people fed, and the gathering of indigo dyers blossomed.

In 2020 the world changed - and like many events IndigoFest was cancelled. In 2021 we hosted a dye garden grow-along on Patreon with lots of posting on Instagram to keep people dreaming in color.

The pandemic pause ended in August 2022, when Indigofest returned to an in person event, we moved venues to the beautiful Long Beach Pennisula, where our annual gathering is now hosted by the historic Sou’Wester Lodge.