For the first time since the pandemic began, the Nanaimo Wine Festival is back, giving both guests and connoisseurs an evening with a variety of flavours to savour.
The event will be held Friday, Oct. 25, at the Grand Hotel. The festival was first held in 1992 in the Beban Park Social Centre, organized by Trish Newton-Segal with Island Radio. Following her retirement, responsibility was handed over to the hotel which organized it for 2018-19, until the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down.
Susie Sirri, director of operations at the Grand Hotel, said organizers want to regain the excitement the festival once held in the community.
"We're finally back to doing it, the environment is ready for it and everybody is excited," she said. "We got back to doing Whisk(e)y Fest but we haven't got back to doing the wine festival, so it's very exciting to bring it back. It has a strong following and it's been a bit tough since COVID so we're trying to revitalize it and get everyone excited again."
This year's guests will have the opportunity to sample wine from about 30 vendors with between six to 25 different wines available at each. Accompanying jazz music will be performed by the father-son duo the Big Mess.
"Walk around, scope out what the profiles are [on] the different wines," Sirri said. "Are they international? Are they B.C.? And map out in your head how you want to map out your journey. Everyone's journey will be different, some people will try to maybe do all the whites initially, or as many whites as they are interested in, then maybe switch to the reds – because the reds are heavier and it keeps your palate a little more fresh."
Alongside the selection, a variety of hot and cold appetizers will be available.
All proceeds will go to the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, a charity specifically requested by the event's vendors. The money will go to the foundation's winter campaign, which the foundation told the News Bulletin will be to support the purchase for imaging equipment at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
The event goes from 7-10 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the hotel, which can be reached at 250-758-3000. For overflow parking, guests may park at the Nanaimo North Town Centre at the old Sears, where the vehicle will be permitted to stay overnight until noon the following day. A shuttle sponsored by Harbourview Volkswagen will take guests from the lot to the event.
