Adirondack Festivals LLC, which operates the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival, announced that more than 5,200 people bought tickets to the event, held June 25-26 at Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George.
It was the second annual event and sunny summer skies greeted the attendees, unlike last year’s inclement weather.
“I am excited to be able to say that not only did we beat our lofty goal of 5,000 attendees for the festival, we also significantly broke a record for any event held at the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons since it opened last year in Lake George,” said Adirondack Festivals owner Sasha Pardy.
“This year we were blessed with two sunny days that brought about 3,500 people on Saturday and 1,500 people on Sunday. Before the weekend even started, we had already sold 4,400 tickets and since no other organizer had ever had a crowd this size at Festival Commons, we took measures to throttle the crowd, announcing that it was likely no at-the-gate tickets would be available for Saturday,” Pardy said.
“We ended up selling a few hundred more before we stopped sales, as we saw lines at vendor booths getting longer. Those who attended on Sunday enjoyed no lines and plenty of face time with our wonderful producers. We think we could have sold easily more than 6,000 tickets if we had more vendors and the heat wasn’t so intense.”
The vendor list for the 2016 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival included 21 wineries, four breweries, four distilleries, two cideries, 19 artisan food vendors, six food and beverage trucks, one local restaurant and a weekend full of culinary demonstrations provided by the SUNY Adirondack Culinary Students.
Attendees used their commemorative festival wine glass to sample the hundreds of hand-crafted products vendors were showcasing, and then had the opportunity to purchase their favorite products to take home in a farmer’s market style “try-before-you-buy” format.
“Our vendors worked really, really hard to prepare for and serve the crowds attending the festival and every vendor we’ve talked to so far has told us they were really happy with attendee interaction, the organization of the event, and their sales for the weekend and want to come back next year,” said Stephanie Ottino, event manager for Adirondack Festivals.
Officials said attendees came from 25 states and Canada.
“Our festival brought an important demographic to Lake George. Our ticket buyers were primarily females with buying power and included younger age demographics than most Lake George events,” said Pardy.
Lake George Mayor Blais said an event that size “has an enormous impact on the Lake George region. I believe that in just two years, the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival has become one of Lake George’s most successful signature events. It’s a fabulous use of Charles R. Wood Festival Commons and the event is very well organized. We’re looking forward to a long relationship with the team at Adirondack Festivals.”
This year, the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival was presented by Adirondack Winery and Taste New York. Adirondack Festivals announced in March that it was awarded $63,000 in funding from the state’s craft beverage marketing and promotion grant program, which was created to increase the profile, awareness and sales of New York state-produced wine, beer, spirits, and hard cider. Additionally, $15,000 in funding was awarded from Warren County and Lake George occupancy tax funds.
As the designated beneficiary of the festival, the SUNY Adirondack Foundation provided volunteer staff during the festival weekend and will receive a portion of the event’s ticket sales. Additionally, SUNY Adirondack raised funds through raffle ticket sales, water bottles, festival T-shirts and baked goods throughout the weekend.
Officials said the SUNY Adirondack Culinary Program had a full tent all weekend long tuned into cooking demonstrations.
The 2017 festival is slated for June 24-25, again at the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons.