By Darlene Brace
The Northwest Arena will be having the Annual Grapes and Hops Festival on Saturday, April 20th. This is a one-day adult festival, and it is a very popular beer and wine tasting event. This event includes breweries, distilleries, and wineries from New York and Pennsylvania, that will be providing their products for the samplings. There will be a wide variety of local craft beers, seltzers, ciders, and an amazing selection of microbeers. The wineries will provide many different types of wines to taste, ranging from sweet to dry, including mead wines (one of the oldest known alcoholic beverages and it is made out of honey). Bottles of wine can be purchased but cannot be opened. While exploring the event, you can drop off your purchased bottles of wine in the wine room, and they will hold them there securely until you are ready to leave the event.
Both the Shults Auto Group Rink A and the Plyler Entry System Rink B in the arena will be filled with tables and booths that will have the wine and beers to taste. There will be 50 or more vendors including a wide variety of artisan and crafts vendors as well as vendors that will have food and snacks to purchase. Live music will be performed by the Midnight Growlers, and they will start around 1pm. They play a wide variety of fun and danceable cover music. Their music spans the 1960’s to present, so the music will have a little bit of everything and will be enjoyable for everyone.
The festival will start at 2pm for general admission ticket holders, and it is $30 presale or $40 at the door. General admissions ticket holders will be given a miniature beer mug for their tastings. There is also a limited amount of VIP tickets available. The VIP tickets are $50 presale and $60 at the door, which includes one-hour early entry at 1pm and a commemorative pint glass. Also included, VIP’s will be able to enjoy delicious food samplings from Forte and a special wine and beer to taste that is only available for the VIPs. The VIP tickets are selling fast, so if you want VIP tickets, you should get them soon. You can buy presale tickets online at eventbrite.com or at the arena ahead of time. Presale tickets are only available until 11:59pm on April 19th. You can buy tickets at the door, but remember it is $10 more than presale.
To help ensure everyone’s safety, there is a designated driver admission for only $10. This year they are offering a selection of non-alcoholic beverages for the designated drivers to taste. It is also important to note that this is a 21yrs and over only event. Everyone, no matter your age, needs to show a valid state license for entry.
The Northwest Arena’s Director of Marketing and Events, Tonja Rinaldo said, “This year’s Grapes and Hop’s Festival has an elevated experience for everyone. There is an increase in the number of local wineries and breweries represented, and we will have more food and craft vendors as well. This event continues to be very popular and successful.”
The Northwest Arena would like to give special thanks to The Media One Radio Group for their partnership for this year’s event as well as the rest of their sponsors that make events like this possible.
If you have any questions or want more information, you can go to the Northwest Arena’s Facebook page. You can also call 716-484-2624 or go online at northwestarena.com.
Many area residents look forward to attending the Grapes and Hops Festival each year. Jamestown resident Marty Mateo has gone several times and she said,” I always look forward to going to the Grapes and Hops Festival. It’s a fun day to go out and see friends, and it’s a fun community event. I love tasting the different wines from local wineries, and that way I can try a variety of wines and find ones I really like without having to buy a whole bottle or glass. Then, I usually go home with one of my favorites and also bring home a new bottle to try. I love the Grapes and Hops Festival!”
The Grapes and Hops festival keeps getting bigger and better each year. It’s a fun adult community event that brings people together for a tasty, good time.