Madrona Fest on the Key Peninsula on October 18, 2025, is all about the good life in the great outdoors—and that’s true not only for the music, but also for the food.
This year’s festival menu, curated by Caren Halvorsen, celebrates the farms, foragers, and small producers that nourish the Key Peninsula and the greater South Sound. Built around ingredients at their peak in mid-October, the menu offers a fresh take on comfort food, rooted in local ingredients available at our concessions stand at an affordable price.
For Halvorsen, every bite from the festival menu tells a story of connection. It reflects what makes this community special: the small farms and local businesses that call the Key Peninsula home.
“I wanted our offerings to capture the essence of autumn on the key peninsula – earthy, bright, and full of warmth,” Halvorsen said. “ I’m so grateful to our local growers and makers whose care and creativity brought this menu to life. Madrona Fest invites us to pause, connect, and savor the beauty of simple, shared moments.”
The standout dish is the Mushroom Bisque, made with mushrooms from Adam’s Mushrooms, a homegrown operation right on the Key Peninsula. Founded in 2013, Adam’s Mushrooms has grown into a thriving, sustainable “forever farm,” expanding its ability to cultivate and forage an impressive range of specialty mushrooms and wild foods.
Another highlight on Halvorsen’s menu is the in-house pesto, crafted from herbs and greens grown at Honey Wood Farm, an ecologically minded small farm surrounded by forest and sea in Longbranch.
Honey Wood grows nearly 100 varieties of vegetables and stewards its soil with minimal tilling, hand tools, and a deep respect for the land’s natural rhythms. Their bright, herb-rich pesto captures the flavor and vitality of the peninsula’s fall harvest.
Even the bread served with the meal comes from just across the bridge in Tacoma, where Balloon Roof Baking Company keeps the old-world craft of baking alive. Using only flour, water, salt, and time, the bakers hand-form and slow-ferment their high-moisture sourdoughs, baking them dark and hot for a rich, complex flavor. Each loaf is baked the same day it’s delivered—without preservatives, commercial yeast, or shortcuts.
Other offerings on the menu include Sweater Weather Soup, a cozy blend of pumpkin and butternut squash; a vibrant Beet Salad with arugula, goat cheese, shallots, and pistachios; and easygoing snacks like “Spread the Love” (hummus, pita, and veggies) and “Graze a Bit” (salami, cheese, fruit, and nuts).
For dessert, festival-goers can indulge in brownies and cookies, washed down with Pioneer Coffee Co. brews or an Altitude Cold Brew—black or white chocolate—served cold and crisp.
The spirit of the menu mirrors the spirit of the festival itself: community, creativity, and a deep love of the land.
Madrona Fest 2025 takes place at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, bringing together music, art, food, and friends in celebration of the good life in the great outdoors. This all-ages event features nationally touring musicians and those with local roots, playing an eclectic mix of alternative, blues, old-time country, and independent country music.
Throughout the day, guests can join in roots music workshops, where guitar, fiddle, and banjo players learn together in a communal circle—followed by an old-time jam where anyone can pull up a chair and play along.
A contra dance with live music from the Flamin’ Fingers String Band and a community photography contest add even more ways to take part in the fun, with winning photos capturing life on the Key Peninsula and displayed during the festival. The evening concert features acclaimed artists Black Belt Eagle Scout, Nathan Evans Fox, Buffalo Kin, and Simon Lynge, whose performances promise to fill the Civic Center with the heartfelt, boundary-crossing sound that defines the festival’s spirit.
Whether you come for the music, the food, or the company, Madrona Fest is an invitation to slow down, step outside, and savor the simple joys of rural life. Get your tickets now, make friends, and support live music on the Key Peninsula—because at Madrona Fest, the good life is meant to be shared.
