Sounds like a-gate idea

Attention all rock hounds and fossil fiends: Yachats is gearing up for its “Tenth Ever” Agate Festival, to be held this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14 and 15.

Known for its natural beauty year around, Yachats has earned the moniker “Gem of the Oregon Coast.” Recent winter storms have revealed riches uncovered by heavy rains and winds, making January a prime time for agate hunting.

This year, more than 35 vendors from Oregon, Washington, California, Utah and Nevada will be displaying and selling rough specimens and finished artistic creations of minerals, gems, crystals and fossils.

There will also be speakers on both days, starting at 11 am on Saturday with Marli Miller, an Earth Sciences faculty member at the University of Oregon since 1997, and a geologist, photographer and author.

At 1:30 pm, William Orr will present “Assembling Oregon,” a talk that shows how Oregon was created and highlights a mineral for each of the 10 deposits areas and how they relate to the geology.

On Sunday at 11 am the festival will present a talk from Kent Gibson, winner of the 2022 national Katherine Palmer award for avocational paleontology; followed at 1:30 pm by a presentation from Doug Sestrich, who has been a Central Coast beach ranger for the past seven years.

The Yachats Area Presbyterian Church, also known as the “church of the agate windows,” will offer access to the sanctuary where the six large agate panels are displayed in all their glory. A volunteer will be available at the church from 12:30 to 1:30 pm on Saturday to tell their story.

A raffle will offer the chance to win many amazing items, with proceeds donated to The Little Log Church Restoration Fund. 

The festival will run from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday and 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday place at the Yachats Commons, 441 Hwy. 101 N. Admission is free.

For more information, go to the Yachats Agate Festival Facebook page or www.yachatsagatefestival.com.