Second wine festival set
Published 9:48 pm Thursday, February 4, 2016
Heather Williams of Suffolk reaches for a wine glass at the entry to the inaugural Suffolk Wine Festival last year. The second installment of the event is set for April 23, and tickets go on sale Saturday.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the second annual Suffolk Wine Festival, a fundraiser that generated $46,000 for local nonprofits last year.
Suffolk Business Women will hold their fundraiser from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 23 at 7000 College Drive, at the former site of Tidewater Community College in North Suffolk. Ten vineyards and six craft breweries, all from Virginia, will be participating, said Emily Brewer, communications director for Suffolk Business Women.
“We are excited,” said Brewer, who said the organization hopes to sell 2,500 tickets to the Suffolk Wine Festival. “We are hoping it will be even more successful than last year.”
Online tickets go on sale Saturday and are available at www.suffolkwinefest.com, Brewer said. Tickets are $35 and include wine and beer tastings, glasses and entry to the event.
People can also opt to buy a $55 ticket, which entitles users to branded beer growlers that can be refilled once for free, Brewer said. Typically, a growler holds four beers and can be shared among a group at the event, she said.
Live entertainment will be provided by 10 Spot, a locally renowned music group, Brewer said.
Suffolk Business Women donates all proceeds from the event back into the community through three or four nonprofit organizations, Brewer said. The organization has not yet determined which nonprofits will be the beneficiaries of this year’s event, she said.
“The organizations come in and make a pitch for their charities,” Brewer said. The group is deciding from among eight major charities that support the local community, she said.
“We don’t have hard and fast rules other than it directly has to benefit the Suffolk or Western Tidewater community,” she said. “We want to know that the money is staying local and benefiting those in our backyard.”
“We don’t sit on funds,” she added.
More information about the fundraiser, including the identities of the nonprofits that will receive funds and the names of the participating vineyards and craft breweries, will be released once details are finalized, Brewer said.
