Adirondack Wine & Food Festival set to return
LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. >> The fifth annual Adirondack Wine & Food Festival is returning to Lake George later this month with more vendors than ever before.
This two-day celebration of New York state wine, craft beverages and artisan foods is expected to bring more than 7,000 visitors to the Lake George area.
Celebrating half a decade in operation, the 2019 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 family friendly wine and food tasting event will feature a record 120 vendors, including producers of New York state wines, craft beverages and artisan foods as well as 11 food trucks, arts and crafts and more.
The upcoming festival will feature 33 wineries (9 new), 15 distilleries (5 new), 7 breweries (3 new), 7 cideries (1 new), a meadery, 12 food trucks (2 new), 28 artisan food vendors (4 new) and 19 craft and specialty vendors (8 new). With a tasting ticket, guests receive a commemorative wine glass to sample wines, beers, spirits and other craft beverages as they tour the festival grounds farmer’s market-style and sample unique and delicious foods.
This year’s festival is also expected to shatter the previous attendance record for the Charles R. Wood Festival Commons – a record set by last year’s festival, which brought more than 6,300 visitors to Lake George and had a 1.87 million economic impact on the greater Lake George area, perennially one of the state’s most popular summer tourism destinations.
“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 Sasha Pardy, festival owner and co-owner of the presenting sponsor, Adirondack Winery in Lake George, in a press release. “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 has added a full schedule of Sunday activities, including an “Iron Chef”-style culinary competition under the festival’s culinary tent between Finger Lakes celebrity chef Chef William Cornelius and Chef Colin Miner, executive chef at Park 26 inside the Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls. Also, on Sunday, festival attendees can buy tickets to get crafty with an hour-long painting session guided by Sip & Canvas of Glens Falls and wine glass candle making with Wax ‘n’ Wix of Lake George. Additionally, Barkeater Chocolates of North Creek will conduct two wine and chocolate educational pairing sessions with Adirondack Winery on Sunday.
The Culinary Tent offers culinary demonstrations prepared on Big Green Egg Grills conducted by Chef William every hour, all weekend long, including limited free samples of the foods prepared. Local bartenders will demo wine cocktail recipes featuring Adirondack Winery wines and spirits from festival vendors too.
Plus, guests can experience something from each of the 11 food truck vendors by purchasing their featured $4 menu items created just for this event.
Two festival sponsors are putting on unique ancillary events for the weekend as well. The Lake George Steamboat Company is offering Adirondack Wine & Food 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 also offer a wine dinner on Friday, June 28 at its Park 26 restaurant, giving festival attendees even more reasons to make a weekend out of their festival visit.
An attendee survey from the 2018 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival showed 93 percent of last year’s attendees planned their trip to Lake George in June specifically to attend the festival. A total of 11 percent of those surveyed said the festival brought them to Lake George for the first time.
The festival has an impact on the hotel industry in the area with 56 percent of attendees staying one to 14 nights in the Lake George region, according to the survey. Festival guests also visit local businesses like Adirondack Winery, Adirondack Brewery, the Factory Outlets of Lake George, Lake George village shops and more.
Guests can also utilize a convenient Drop-Off / PickUp 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, the official festival beneficiary for the second consecutive year.
Volunteers from Big Brothers Big Sisters will help make sure everyone stays hydrated with water for sale and the group 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 by pairing them with caring adults who help put them on the path to success.
Last year the group raised over $11,000 through festival fundraising and bigger goals are set for this year.
“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, in the release. “It is through community focused partnerships like these that we create lasting change for our residents. Funds raised will provide local children facing adversity with positive role models and mentors that can help set them on a path for success.
“Every child has potential and it’s our job to defend that potential. We are proud to be defenders of potential with the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival!”
Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 29 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 30. VIP Ticket Holders can enter an hour early each day.
One-day tickets to the 2019 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival start at $38 each. Weekend passes and VIP packages are also available. Discounts are available when tickets are purchased in advance, and they do sell out.
Designated driver and tickets for guests ages 16-20 cost $15. Admission for children younger than age 15 is free. There will be a children’s activity tent on site, as well as the Lake George Skateboard Park and a natural children’s playground located just outside the festival gates.