Tumbleweed Film Fest brings the Okanogan to Seattle

By Gary DeVon • October 31, 2012 6:14 pm
The Tumbleweed International Film Festival held its first invite-only event at a Seattle studio in Belltown, where over 50 guests were treated to popcorn and wine, a slide show of Oroville and the surrounding area, some short films, as well as a guest speaker, representing the new Pastime Bar and Grill. The TwIFF plans similar events in the Seattle area every other month. The film festival returns to Oroville next August.
Mo Fine, Simone McCready and Geoff Klein at the Tumbleweed event in Seattle where film festival co-founders Fine and Klein are intoducing people to the Okanogan and Oroville, the home of the Tumbleweed International Film Festival. The two teamed up with McCready, the marketing coordiator for the Pastime Bar and Grill which plans to open next May.

Popular film festival returns to Oroville in August

SEATTLE – Tumbleweed International Film Festival organizers are bringing a taste of the Okanogan to Seattle by holding Tumbleweed events every other month in the Seattle area.

The events highlight the Okanogan, as well as the Tumbleweed International Film Festival, say filmmakers Geoff Klein and Mo Fine, co-founders of the festival, which they bring to Oroville each summer.

“Our goal is to help get the word out around Seattle that the Okanogan is a great place to vacation and visit, as well as to build up some excitement around here for people to come out to Oroville and attend next summer’s Tumbleweed Film Festival,” said Klein. “Surprisingly, very few people had been out here or realized what the area had to offer. I think that our first gathering helped them see what they’re missing!”

The Tumbleweed International Film Festival held its first invite-only event at a Seattle studio in Belltown, where over 50 guests were treated to popcorn and wine, a slide show of Oroville and the surrounding area, some short films (like the comedy ‘Baxter’s Big Day’ above), as well as a guest speaker, representing the new Pastime Bar and Grill. The TwIFF plans similar events in the Seattle area every other month. The film festival returns to Oroville next August.

Tumbleweed held the first invite-only event at a Seattle studio in Belltown, where over 50 guests were treated to popcorn and wine, a slide show of the area, some short films, as well as guest speaker, representing the new Pastime Bar and Grill, which will open in Oroville in May 2013.

“The Pastime looks forward to supporting local producers, helping to revitalize Main Street and building more interest in the area,” said Simone McCready, marketing coordinator for the Pastime. “That’s why we’re especially excited to be pairing up with the Tumbleweed Film Festival, because they share the same vision for our region.”

The Pastime Bar and Grill will serve a seasonal menu ranging from pasta to steaks plus gastropub food in the bar, sidewalk and alley bars, according to McCready.

Tumbleweed plans on holding these events in Seattle every other month and inviting other local businesses to introduce guests to the Okanogan as well as to their businesses.

“We’re already looking forward to having some of the local wineries or breweries come out as well, so that guests can get a small taste of the Tumbleweed Film Fest,” said Fine.

Fine and Klein are hoping that these events will bring a few more visitors from the Seattle area out to the Okanogan, as well as to their fourth annual film festival in Oroville, which takes place Aug. 1, 2 and 3 2013. For more information on the festival, visit www.tumbleweedfilmfest.com.