Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival

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Nothing screams spring quite like the sunny weather, beautiful walks with trees in bloom, with a glass of wine in hand and live bands serenading the evening. Thanks to the Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival, you can experience all of these, and much, much more.
G.G.A.F.F is home to casual wine tasting with over a hundred different varieties of wines available for tasting. Souvenir tasting glasses are available for purchase upon entering the festival, and once in hand, you are free to stroll from tent to tent and table to table for tasting and sampling the rich heritage of many North Carolina vineyards. The atmosphere is created for one to relax in the beautiful green setting of the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Regency Park (Cary, NC).

This particular festival takes place April 16th, 11am-7pm.
Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. This way, all may settle in on the lawn and enjoy LIVE music on the Main Stage . Chefs are also in attendance, offering expert advice, tips and tricks for your next night in the kitchen! There is even a kids activity area where children can come play, listen to music, and learn about art and other cultural intrigues.

Other events during the day include grape stomping, art showcases, and tastings-wine and food pairing.

Can’t make it to Cary next week? No worries! The G.G.A.F.F is in Reston, VA (April 30th 12pm-6pm) Cockeysville, MD. (June 11/12 12p-6pm), Reston, VA (September 10/11) and Charlotte, NC (October 1st)
More information can be found on the festivals website:
Uncork the Fun!

-Maxann Keller

Comments

9 responses to “Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival”

April 11, 2011

Meagan Culkin

As a fellow wine connoissuer, this wine festival definitely strikes my interest. Having said that, I think it’s interesting that they have events catered to children as well as adults. My parents never hid the fact that they drank from me, but I still don’t think they would take me to a wine tasting festival– if for no other reason than the fact that they wouldn’t be able to relax as much if they had a group of kids to keep up with. This seems to be a fairly new festival, and I’ll be interested to see if that would be something that they would think about changing later on down the road.

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April 12, 2011

Sally Shupe

This event sounds like a great way to support and promote North Carolina vineyards. I think that the annual event markets itself based on the fact that families can attend with the idea of relaxing and celebrating a great day together, more so than the actual wine itself. The latent message behind this event is attractive to the consumers; however it still offers tremendous benefits to North Carolina wineries in a casual setting. By hosting the event with families in mind, it would be in good taste to monitor the wine consumption of attendees while also encouraging the participation of all of the many activities. Being from Cary, NC, I can appreciate the setting for this event at Koko Booth and think that it is the perfect location to achieve the type of event that GGAFF is hoping to accomplish!

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April 12, 2011

Caitlin Johns

I think it is so great that they combine wine, arts and food. All too often, people assume “the arts” must be enjoyed within the confines of a stuffy museum. A festival like this makes for a much more enjoyable experience in my opinion. Bringing together the three and making them more accessible to the general public is a great strategy for increasing cultural awareness.

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April 13, 2011

Andrea Blanton

I have recently turned 21 and I am very eager to try new things. I received a bottle of wine for my birthday from one of my sisters and really enjoyed it. The Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival looks like an exciting adventure that I would love to be a part of! I told my roommates about the festival right after I read this blog and we all agreed that we must go. We have already made plans for the Charlotte location and cannot wait. I probably would not have heard about this if I had not been asked to comment on the IMC-hawk blog, so thank you for posting this!

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April 13, 2011

Ashley Nelson

After reading this blog I am so eager to attend this festival! I have always wanted to go to a wine festival. The thought of strolling around in the sunshine with a wineglass going from tent to tent trying any type of wine I please sounds so great to me! I love the fact that there is live music as well wine and food pairing tasting. It always helpful to know which type of wine goes which your favorite foods. This sounds like an amazing experience.

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April 13, 2011

Leonie Steenblik

I am happy is read your blog on time! I definitely wane go to this festival. What is better than good weather, drinking wine with friends, with good music and having a good time. And with sitting on the ground with the blankets makes it even better! I already been a few times to a wine tasting, but never to a wine festival. Thanks you for posting about this event!

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April 14, 2011

Stacey Jewell

Prior to reading this, I hadn’t heard of the GGAFF but it sounds like a great opportunity to indulge in what NC has to offer. They still found a way to provide activities for minors like myself. Even better, is that this event is happening in other areas like VA and MD, so other people will be able to experience it’s outreach. I’d definitely like to attend this if I get a chance and see everything is has to teach me.

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April 14, 2011

Ayesha McIntyre

I thought this blog was not only very insightful but also very interesting. I have always been interested in attending a wine tasting; having the idea that it would be something different and kind of fancy. I love that this event allows you to taste and sample the rich heritage of many of North Carolina’s own vineyards making it even more compelling to go. The live music and kids activity make it a family event. And I also like that the kids are able to learn about art and other cultural intrigues. I just think this event would be a fun experience for everyone and something out of the ordinary to go to. I adding this event to my list of things to do this summer and will hopefully be attending the one in Reston, VA. O and one more thing I think the festivals website’s slogan “Uncork the fun” is such a brilliant brand slogan and a great way to market.

-Ayesha McIntyre

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April 14, 2011

Vincent Murphy

Would it make me any less manly if I read this and became kind of interested in attending the wine festival? I hope not because this happens to be the case right now. My mom always said that a man should be able to do three things well in order to impress a woman: cook her a fancy dinner, dance the night away, and not sound like an idiot when ordering a bottle of wine at a restaurant. It sounds like this festival has a little bit of everything that I need to make mama proud!

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