Citywide events and festivals come and go. New ones pop up regularly, while existing others abruptly disappear…even from places where people want to visit regularly. So if an event flourishes for a decade, it means that the organizers are always searching for and finding ways to improve, expand and enhance it.
Such is the case with the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival, now in its tenth year in North Carolina’s Prettiest Small Town. The Blowing Rock Chamber, which puts on the festival, never allows it to rest on its culinary or liquid laurels…and this year’s festival, which runs from Thursday, April 16 through Sunday, April 19 is no different.
“This year’s festival will be bigger and better than ever, “ said Billie Rogers, Chamber Events Director.
Some tasty tweaks to this year’s festival include the Downtown Wine Down, from 3-7 p.m. on Friday. Shops downtown will have wine tastings to encourage participants to stop, sip and shop, and at least one distillery and the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM) will be included. Thursday evening’s restaurant showcase Taste!, will include not only North Carolina wines and food products, but also the State’s beers and distillers. The big-tent Reserve Tasting on Saturday will feature Riedel glassware, so participants can best experience high-end wines offered. A new seminar this year will be Build Your Own Bordeaux, hosted by Christopher’s Wine & Cheese, a popular local seminar offered for the first time at the festival this year. For details on these events and more, visit blueridgewinefestival.com/events.
2016 Event to Get New Name, Expanded and Enhanced Offerings
Rogers said that next year’s event will be retitled Savor Blowing Rock to better reflect all the revamped and expanded festival will have to offer beyond wine and food. In recent years, local beers, North Carolina spirits, added events and concerts have become a permanent part of the festival, and are now central to its brand.
“Savor Blowing Rock encompasses all the things we’re celebrating with this annual festival. The views, the food, the drinks, the weather, the activities, the character; you can savor it with all your senses,” Rogers said.
Full details on this year’s festival can be found at blueridgewinefestival.com, along with ticket-purchase options and lodging package descriptions.
The Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce produces the Blue Ridge Wine & Food Festival.
Blowing Rock, NC
March 2015