By Darlene Brace
This year’s America’s Grape Country Craft Beverage Festival will be taking place at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds in Dunkirk, NY on August 3&4. This festival formerly known as America’s Grape Country Wine Festival started back in 2008. Last year, the event was rebranded, as it has grown into more than just wineries. There are still plenty of great wineries represented, but now there are distilleries and cideries and other craft beverage products. This festival will have over twenty craft beverage producers from across New York State to sample from. Guests are invited to sip and sample the best that our state has to offer on Saturday from 11am-6pm and Sunday from 12pm-5pm. With your one or two-day admittance ticket, you will receive a tasting glass to saunter through the grounds and taste samples. Your ticket also includes free parking, a tote bag to carry any purchases you may make, and a comprehensive tasting guide.
Although the tastings are the biggest part of the festival, there will be a wide variety of food trucks and vendors. Some food trucks will have Buffalo style cuisine such as wings, beef on weck, and pizza. There will be Mexican food, a BBQ food truck, and more. Some vendors will be selling specialty items like baked goods, fried dough, and funnel cakes. What would a festival be without all of these delicious foods.
Along with food vendors, there will be a wide variety of craft and artisan vendors. Browse through the vendors, where you will likely find unique craft artisans featuring items such as artwork, candles, quilts, jewelry, pickles, spices, sauces, clothing, and much more.
Throughout the festival, there will be some interesting demonstrations to entertain the crowd. Mack’s Chainsaw Art will demonstrate chainsaw wood carvings, that will impress you as this duo turns ordinary pieces of wood into works of art. Enjoy this fascinating demonstration as they share their passion. Cooking and food demonstrations will be hosted by Chef Krista Van Wagner, who is a culinary expert and owner or Krista’s Caribbean Kitchen. She will demonstrate how to make cinnamon rolls and your own crepes along with some other dishes. Lastly, wine expert Donna Schlosser-Long, will present educational seminars on food and wine parings, women in wine, and more. Together they will inspire your next culinary adventure!
Those are some of the activities that are ongoing during the festival hours. Here are some other activities and live entertainment taking place each day:
On Friday night, there will be the Parrot Head Bash Kick Off Party, featuring tropical and pirate themed accessories, a beer tent, and it will be similar to a Jimmy Buffet style party. Attendees are encouraged to dress up and embrace the ambience of the theme. Live music will be performed by WNY’s trop rock band Pirate Dreams from 6pm-10pm. (It should be noted that there will be a beer and wine tent but there will be no tastings or art vendors during this party or the after party on Saturday night.)
On Saturday, there will be the annual classic car show from 12pm-5pm. Shine up your ride and bring your classic car to display. There is no registration required and no limitations of the year, make, or model. When you participate in the car show, drivers will receive a free one-day admittance to the festival and discounted tickets for any passengers. There will be six awards given out for six different categories.
Also on Saturday, the live music continues. Yank the Cover, a Hamburg based cover band, will be playing rock, pop, and country hits from the 90’s to today from 1pm-5pm. Later that evening, the after-hours party really gets things hopping. There will be a beer tent and a high energy band called That 80’s Hair Band, playing your favorite 80’s tunes to rock the night away.
If you are still looking for more great live music, the popular WNY band Black Widow will be performing on Sunday from 1pm-5pm. They play rock and pop music that is sure to get you moving to the beat.
For those of you looking for overnight accommodations, there is camping available on the spacious fairgrounds. Currently all the campsites with hookups are reserved. Only dry camping and tent camping are still available and can be reserved at a discounted rate.
There have been several festivals in the area this season. Bill Merritt stated, “Come to this festival and enjoy yourselves during one of the best weekends of the summer!” America’s Grape Country Craft Beverage Festival is a super fun festival that you just don’t want to miss. See you there!