If we’ve learned anything from watching folks dine in converted parking spaces in the dead of winter, it’s that food and beverage lovers will go to great lengths to indulge their appetites. Thanks to them, the Preservation Society of Newport County managed to pull off the rather remarkable feat of producing a Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival last year in the midst of a pandemic.
And they’re about to do it again.
Although COVID-19 poses less of a threat than it did a year ago, large public gatherings are still a dicey proposition. (After pulling off a successful event in July, the organizers behind Newport’s Secret Garden Tour canceled September’s iteration over concerns about the Delta variant.)
So it’s still not business as usual for this year’s 16th annual Wine & Food Festival, scheduled for September 17–19 at Rosecliff and the stable at The Breakers. The traditional centerpiece of the weekend, the Grand Tasting, where crowds graze food booths and guzzle wine elbow to elbow under a big tent behind Marble House, is missing in action again, a victim of the pandemic.
More: Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival tickets are going fast. Here’s what you need to know.
On a positive note, the number of seminars has increased to 24 from last year’s 12, and there will be two vintner dinners this year, compared to just one in 2020. (At press time, more than half of the events were already sold out.) Restaurants around town will once again be hosting their own special meals tied to the event.
As with anything else, the situation could change depending on what happens with the coronavirus, but the Preservation Society team remains cautiously optimistic. “We have a wonderful slate of seminars, and we are looking forward to another unforgettable weekend of events,” says CEO and executive director Trudy Coxe.
As for what will happen next year, Coxe’s team says that’s anyone’s guess.
To learn more about the Newport Mansions Wine & Food Festival, call 847-1000 or visit newportmansions.org.
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