Downtown St. Pete's bustling Beach Drive — known for its restaurants and shops, museums and bars — will add an upscale food and wine gathering to its mix of what-to-do's in fall. The inaugural St. Pete Wine & Food Festival, announced Friday and produced by Beach Drive Events, is expected to draw more than 8,000 gastronauts and wine lovers.
A craft beer and cider sampling, intimate six-course charity dinner with wine pairings and two grand tastings will be featured throughout the waterfront festival's four-day run. The Birch & Vine, Red Mesa, Marchand's Bar & Grill, Sea Salt, Parkshore Grill, 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House, Il Ritorno, RumFish Grill and Council Oak make up the lineup of participating restaurants.
"Everyone we've talked to during our planning has voiced a similar opinion — St. Pete needs and deserves a world-class event like the St. Pete Wine & Food Festival," said Dawna Stone, festival president and co-founder, in a news release.
The charity dinner will be hosted in the Birchwood hotel's ballroom 7 to 10 p.m. Sept. 24, while the cider and beer event, showcasing more than 100 booze offerings, will take place 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at North Straub Park.
From 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 26 and 27, the park will also house the festival's centerpiece: the grand tasting sessions. Restaurant bites and 100-plus wines will be highlighted, as well as local artists who plan to contribute to a collaborative community art piece.
"We expect the event to quickly become the Bay area's preeminent wine and food festival," said CEO and co-founder Matt Dieter. "We intend to add to our inaugural year's event schedule to grow the SPWFF into a national caliber wine, beer and food extravaganza."
The St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and Downtown Waterfront Parks Foundation will receive a portion of the festival's proceeds. Tickets may be purchased online in multievent packages or separately, and VIP access, which gets guests into an event one hour before general admission, is available as well.
This article appears in Jul 23-29, 2015.