By Kate Bartlett
This November marks the 19th annual Beer & Wine Festival at Holiday Valley. This event is a full weekend of festivities that is a favorite of locals and visitors alike. It’s success over the years has brought a lot of repeat guests who look forward to coming to check out what is new as well as revisiting some of their favorite beverages.
Guests can look forward to a fun afternoon/evening of sampling some of WNY’s finest craft brewers, wineries and cideries, all while listening to some great music. The Main Lodge at Holiday Valley is a great venue for this event and all three floors of the lodge will have live music and lots of opportunities to try out different drinks. The Mountainside Grill will also be open for food.
The format is the same as last year with two different sessions on Saturday, November 11, 1-4pm and 5-8pm. (Separate tickets are required for each session.) This year will feature live entertainment with music by XOXO, the Porcelain Busdrivers and Todd Mertens.
According to Dash Hegeman, Director of Marketing, the festival transpired as an opportunity to attract visitors to the area at the end of fall before the winter ski season. “The festival takes place during a time where a lot of the fall activities at the resort have slowed down and before the ski season ramps up,” said Dash. “The festival is a celebration of the end of the fall and gets people excited about the upcoming winter. Once the event wraps up, guests are able to go down into the Village, bringing business to the local bars and restaurants business before winter really hits its stride.”
New this year, the Crawl Outta Fall bar crawl on Friday night gives guests the opportunity to extend the festivities. “This is the perfect precursor for Beer & Wine guests who want to come into Ellicottville a day early and make it a really fun weekend,” Dash stated. The bar crawl starts at Holiday Valley resort in the lobby of the Tamarack Club where guests get their first drink of the evening at John Harvard’s. Shuttle service will leave from the Tamarack, bringing guests into the Village to visit participating bars and restaurants to sample other specialty drinks.
Participants will be given a passport card to collect stamps at participating bars and restaurants. Guests who collect at least 4 stamps will be entered in a grand prize drawing after submitting the passport to the Tamarack Club front desk or at the Veteran’s Table at the Beer & Wine Festival. Additionally, by sharing Crawl Outta Fall photos on social media and tagging @holidayvalley, guests will gain additional entries into the drawing. The grand prize is a dine, stay and play package at Holiday Valley.
For those looking to make it a weekend getaway, booking your stay at Holiday Valley offers convenience along with great accommodations. “Friday night, the Crawl Outta Fall shuttle service departs from Holiday Valley directly into the village from 6pm-2am. “It’s the ultimate in comfort and convenience,” said Dash. “Saturday, after Beer & Wine, lodging guests will be able to quickly get back to their rooms and decide what’s next on their agenda of things to do that evening. Plus, we have some fantastic lodging packages that guests can take advantage of.”
At the moment, confirmed beverage participants include a wide variety of local brewerys and cideries, including, but not limited to, VooDoo Brewing, Britesmith Brewing, East Aurora Brewing, Platter’s Dessert Beer, Eli Fish, Bold Rock Cider, 12 Gates Brewing, Flying Bison, Clarksburg Cider, Saranac/Utica Club and many more.
For more information and to purchase tickets, including accommodations, visit https://www.holidayvalley.com/activities-events/beer-and-wine-festival/. Tickets are still available for both sessions, as well as the Crawl Outta Fall Bar Crawl with prices increasing November 1.