July 30 Fort Ross State Historic Park welcomed hundreds of visitors from far and near to celebrate its great cultural abundance, rich historic heritage, and beautiful flora and fauna!

The festival guests enjoyed traditional Russian music, dance, crafts and cuisine, living traditions of boat building and board carving, and an array of foods and craft beer at the International Food Bazaar and Beer Garden. Among highlights of the festival were creative workshops by Vera Belius - noted artist, teacher and illustrator of the forthcoming "A Tale of Fort Ross" book. Belius traveled from her native Pskov, Russia, for the event.

"We are delighted to be a part of this celebration, especially when seeing the excitement and genuine interest of guests, their desire to learn about the history of Fort Ross, and their hope to contribute to its future", said Olga Miller of the Renova Fort Ross Foundation. "It is absolutely soul nurturing to observe the children speaking English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and other languages, and together finding themselves at home at Fort Ross".

The festival closed with a local Kashia Pomo "Su Nu Nu Shinai" traditional dance, with the ocean at a backdrop.

Renova Fort Ross Foundation was a proud sponsor of the Fort Ross Festival, organized by the dedicated teams of the Fort Ross Conservancy and California State Parks.

We now look forward to the upcoming Fort Ross-Seaview Harvest Festival on October 15th!

To learn more about the Festival and find out about upcoming events visit http://www.fortross.org/events.htm