Courtesy Adirondack Wine & Food Festival
The Adirondack Wine & Food Festival will return to the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons in Lake George on Saturday, June 29, and Sunday, June 30.
The fifth annual, family friendly wine and food tasting event will feature a record 120-plus vendors, according to Sasha Pardy, festival owner and co-owner of the presenting sponsor, Adirondack Winery in Lake George.
It includes producers of New York state wines, craft beverages, artisan foods, 11 food trucks, arts and crafts and more.
“Our festival keeps growing and that gives us a better opportunity to highlight more of the amazing wines and foods New York state has to offer,” said Pardy. “We have worked so hard to bring new and improved experiences to both days of this year’s festival and we are so excited to bring those aspects to new attendees and our most passionate and loyal guests who travel to the Lake George area year after year for our event.”
In order to encourage Sunday attendance to locals, the festival added a full schedule of activities, including an “Iron Chef”-style culinary competition under the festival’s culinary tent. It will be between Finger Lakes celebrity chef William Cornelius and chef Colin Miner, executive chef at Park 26 inside the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls.
Also on Sunday, attendees can buy tickets to participate in a painting session guided by Sip & Canvas of Glens Falls; and wine glass candle making with Wax ‘n’ Wix of Lake George. Also, Barkeater Chocolates of North Creek will conduct two wine and chocolate educational pairing sessions with Adirondack Winery.
The Culinary Tent, sponsored by Marcella’s Appliance, offers demonstrations prepared on Big Green Egg Grills every hour, all weekend, including limited free samples of the foods prepared. Local bartenders will demo wine cocktail recipes, featuring Adirondack Winery wines and spirits from festival vendors.
The 11 food truck vendors will feature $4 menu items created just for the event.
Two festival sponsors are putting on unique ancillary events for the weekend. The Lake George Steamboat Co. is offering festival-inspired dinner cruises aboard the Lac Du Saint Sacrament June 28-30 at 6:30 p.m. and will feature a wine-infused menu and signature local craft beverage drinks for purchase.
The Queensbury Hotel will offer a wine dinner on Friday, June 28, at its Park 26 restaurant.
Pardy said an attendee survey from the 2018 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival showed 93 percent of last year’s attendees planned to return to Lake George to attend the festival. Eleven percent of those said the festival brought them to Lake George for the first time.
Some 56 percent of attendees stayed one to 14 nights in hotels in the Lake George region, according to the survey. They also visited local businesses like Adirondack Winery, Adirondack Brewery, the Factory Outlets of Lake George, Lake George village shops and more.
Festival officials said this year’s festival will feature 33 wineries (nine new), 15 distilleries (five new), seven breweries (three new), seven cideries (one new), a meadery, 12 food trucks (two new), 28 artisan food vendors (four new) and 19 craft and specialty vendors (eight new).
With a tasting ticket, guests receive a commemorative wine glass to sample wines, beers, spirits and other craft beverages as they tour the grounds. They can also utilize a convenient drop-off/pick-up tent, where they can store their purchases until they are ready to leave. This tent will be larger this year than previous years and will be run by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks, which was named the official festival beneficiary for the second consecutive year.
Volunteers from Big Brothers Big Sisters will have water for sale and will raise funds through the sale of festival merchandise and raffle baskets. A portion of all ticket sales will be donated to the local organization, which has helped children throughout the Southern Adirondacks for more than 40 years. Last year, the group raised over $11,000.
“We are thrilled to once again be named the beneficiary of the 2019 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival,” said Bill Moon, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Southern Adirondacks. “It is through community focused partnerships like these that we create lasting change for our residents.”
One-day tickets start at $38 (discounts available when bought in advance and tickets do sell out) and weekend passes and VIP packages are also available. Designated driver and tickets for guests ages 16-20 are $15. Admission for children younger than 15 is free.
There will be a children’s activity tent sponsored by The Fun Spot on site, as well as the Lake George Skateboard Park and a state-of-the-art natural children’s playground located just outside the festival gates.