|
Food and wine festival attendance gorge expectations
By Jessica Johnson
Contributing Writer
The Distinctively Charleston Food and Wine Festival surpassed area chefs’ and organizers’ expectations and left attendees wanting more.
“I thought it was spectacular. It went above and beyond what anyone could have dreamed,” said Chef Bob Waggoner with the Charleston Grill.
Waggoner participated in cooking demonstrations and various other events. And all of them were packed with people, he said.
Other area chefs agreed, saying the event held March 2-5 brought more people than they thought would turn out for the event.
Many of the events were sold out, including the opening dinner, the Southern Wine & Spirits Restaurant Dine Around that featured celebrity chefs in area restaurants, The Bubbles and Sweets, and the gospel brunch on Sunday.
“There were many more attendees than I think a lot of people thought. There was a lot of skepticism since it was the first year,” said Ann Stafford of Crew Carolina.
The numbers at the Culinary Village exceeded chef expectations, too. In fact, tickets to enter the village were cut off at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“It was ridiculous. You would have thought that they weren’t charging to get in, that’s how many people were there,” Waggoner said.
The number of people indicated to Stafford that the locals as well as out-of-towners came out to support the event, she said.
Angel Passailaigue Postell, the festival’s director, said they are still tabulating ticket sales but estimate around 5,000 people entered the Culinary Village, with 3,500 people coming in Saturday.
The festival did its part to help fill usually popular hotels such as Charleston Place and Francis Marion. Establishments sold out on at least one night over the festival weekend.
Hotel occupancy rates were greater than during the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition weekend. On Friday and Saturday of the Food and Wine festival, hotels in the tri-county area reported an average rate of 92% occupancy compared to the expo’s 87%.
At least some of that past weekend’s high occupancy rates could be attributed to the festival, said John Crotts, director of the College of Charleston Hospitality & Tourism Management.
“We can’t take total credit for all of that, but we had a significant impact,” Crotts said.
The Southern Conference Basketball Tournament was also held that same weekend. Organizers estimate that two-thirds of ticket sales came from outside the area.
Crotts said the festival attracted the desired demographic of upscale travelers. It also placed Charleston on the culinary map.
The number of festival participants will likely increase in coming years, as the festival has garnered national media attention, he said.
Tom Parsell, owner of Hospitality Management Group and a founding member of the Food and Wine board of directors, said he encountered visitors who would have liked to participate in this year’s festival.
“Several people in town mentioned to me that they were here not knowing about (the festival) and found out about it but it was too late to change their plans,” Parsell said.
Postell said the committee would look at how to improve things next year and shape the festival into what participants want it to be.
“We wanted to bring more people to town on a slower weekend, and I think we did that. We wanted to bring people into our hotels and (to) see our chefs and we did that,” Postell said.
Similar events have found success around the country, Parsell said. Typically food and wine festivals thrive in destinations that people look for excuses to visit anyway, he said.
Charleston’s next festival is already scheduled for March 1-4, 2007. Parsell said the future of the festival looks good.
“For Charleston, such a festival seems a natural fit. Certainly Charleston is a culinary destination,” he said.
|
E-Mail This Article
Printer-Friendly Version