Adirondack Festivals LLC has full list of vendors for this year’s Adirondack Wine & Food Festival being held June 25 and 26 at Charles R Wood Festival Commons in Lake George Village.
“This festival celebrates the bounty of amazing craft beverages and locally made foods that New York has to offer and we’re not short on vendors for this year’s event,” said Sasha Pardy, owner of Adirondack Festivals LLC.
The vendor list for the 2016 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival includes 21 wineries, four breweries, four distilleries, two cideries, 19 artisan food vendors, six food and beverage trucks and one local restaurant. It will also be a weekend full of culinary demonstrations provided by the SUNY Adirondack Culinary Students.
A festival ticket ($35 at the gate, $25 pre-sale) gets the attendee access to the event for one day and a commemorative festival wine glass to be used to sample the hundreds of hand-crafted products available to try that day, plus take the glass home with them.
The festival is a farmer’s market-style, rain-or-shine event where wineries, craft beverage and artisanal food vendors set up tents, serve samples and sell their fine products, giving festival-goers the opportunity to “try before they buy.”
To encourage support of these local small producers, the festival offers a “purchase drop-off and pick-up tent,” where attendees can drop off the purchases they make throughout the day for storage to be picked up when they leave the festival.
“So far this year, we have already sold more than 1,100 tickets,” aid Stephanie Ottino, festival coordinator. “I’m confident that with great weather, we will hit our 5,000 attendee goal.”
“Our festival brings an important demographic to Lake George, with the average attendee being females, age 25-44 with buying power. Statistics show that wine tourists have a 16 percent higher income than the average tourist or individual,” she added.
Robin McDougall, co-owner of Lake George Distilling, said of last year’s event, “was a great success. We did very well in sales and sampling. The festival exposed us to a large cross-section of consumers that might not normally stop by our tasting room.”
This year, the festival is presented by Adirondack Winery and Taste New York.
Adirondack Festivals announced in March that it was awarded $63,000 from the state Craft Beverage Marketing and Promotion grant program, which was created to increase awareness and sales of state-produced wine, beer, spirits, and hard cider. Additionally, $15,000 in funding was awarded from Warren County and Lake George occupancy tax funds.
The money was used to expand marketing for the festival.
The first Adirondack Wine & Food Festival was held the same weekend last June as one of the first events to debut at Festival Commons.
“Festival Commons is the perfect spot for an event like ours. It’s got ample green space, nearby parking, and walking access to plentiful hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops for our attendees to enjoy before and after the festival,” said Pardy.
The SUNY Adirondack Foundation provides volunteers as the designated beneficiary of the Festival, receiving a portion of ticket sales from the event.
“SUNY Adirondack is great to work with and the perfect fit, with their growing Culinary Arts Program,” said Ottino.
The Culinary Arts Program Faculty and Students will be present at the festival showcasing their skills with cooking demonstrations under a special tent throughout the festival. They will also be raising money by selling baked goods, food, non-alcoholic beverages and items at the event.
The Adirondack Wine and Food Festival website and ticket sales are live. Visit www.ADKWINEFEST.com for more information.