What's newTaste of the festival: A unique sneak peek
For the second time ever, residents will have a chance to taste, smell and hear everything that makes up the Grape Festival a day before it even begins.
Guests mill about the Grape Pavilion looking at exhibits, sampling area
wines and bidding on silent auction items during last year’s Taste
of the Fair event. (J. Paul Bruton/News-Sentinel)
The “Taste of the Festival” event, sponsored in part by Farmers & Merchants Bank, allows those who attend to get a unique sneak peek at the fair’s offerings prior to opening day. It’s also an annual fund-raiser for educational related scholarships and other programs and endeavors.
Last year’s $50 entrance fee, for example, went toward creating a new high school scholarship. This year, proceeds will help support the Lodi Grape Festival “Bucks for Books” Scholarship Fund, increase the funding for grape mural contest awards as well as supporting various other Festival programs.
The Taste of the Festival was launched last year as a replacement for the now defunct pre-festival parade which was canceled after the 2002 event due to a continuing drop in interest by parade participants as well as a continual decline in the number of people who turned out to see the marchers.
The idea came about by accident, Festival General Manager Mark Armstrong said. Two years ago, Armstrong, his wife and several employees were on the fairgrounds the night before the fair started. They thought it would be a great time to invite residents to the festival grounds to get a bit of a taste of the fair.
And, so “Taste of the Festival” was born.
“It’s been great,” Armstrong said. “Everybody likes the cause, and I think it will do even better than last year’s.
“We had set down and said 250 (participants) would be great, and we had 325.”
The event includes a silent auction and a sampling of the best of the fair, including festival food, entertainment, theme exhibit and carnival games.
Wine tasting will also be available. And, attendees will have a chance to vote on the best grape mural.
Leo Burke, owner Lights West, was among the 325 people who attended last year’s event. This year’s goal is to bring in more than 400 attendees.
“It was wonderful,” Burke said.
“You get a little atmosphere, and it’s a social occasion. It’s a great pairing of a corn dog and a Chardonnay,” he added.
Burke had a chance to taste a bit of everything — some foods he would never be able to do at a night at the fair.
Armstrong said the vendors especially like the “Taste of the Festival” event because it allowed them to showcase their wares before the fair doors ever opened.
However, Armstrong is going to be making a few changes this year, including putting more food out and in different locations.
Additionally, the silent auction will also likely be held earlier, Armstrong said.
The pre-festival event was added after the festival’s Board of Directors decided in 2002 to end the annual parade after a steady decline in entries and spectators in recent years. It was a tradition dating back to 1937.
“This was just our attempt to add one more thing to the festival,” according to Armstrong. “It was perceived as a replacement for the parade, and it wasn’t.
“I think it is going to grow into an even better part of the fair.”
The event is Wednesday, Sept. 15 in the Lodi Grape Festival Pavilion. It runs from 6 to 9 p.m.
Tickets are $50 per person and are available by mail order, on line, or at the festival’s business office, 413 E. Lockeford St.
For more information, call 369-2771 or go to www.grapefestival.com.
Contact reporter Jennifer Pearson Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.
