As you may have
noticed by now, I have a great affinity for food, wine and alcohol in general. So, it should come as no shock that The
National Harbor’s Food and Wine Festival is one of my favorite annual events,
or at least it use to be. I’ve only
missed one festival since the Harbor started hosting it in 2008 however; I
think this may be my last year. The first year offered limited wine tastings
and food samples but, none of the vendors really paid attention to whether or
not attendees had tasting tickets so it worked out really well. Plus there were
amazing mixology demos where I learned all about the wonderful world of Hendricks Gin and how much fun magic and martinis could be. By the second year, it seemed like they had gotten
it together. There were unlimited tastings and restaurant quality samples from premier chefs and local restaurants. Attendees enjoyed sautéed mussels from Timothy
Dean, signature desserts from the Gaylord Hotel, food and wine parings from
Robert Mondavi and a host of other mouth watering treats. You left the festival
with a full belly, awesome buzz, and great stories. Year three was kind of
touch and go. I started to notice a gradually decline in the food offerings
which, I made up for by participating in the Fosters Clam Bake. I missed year four L so you can only imagine how
excited I was to be back in action for this year’s festival. That excitement
was quickly stifled when I discovered that the Food and Wine Festival had
turned into the Wine, Sauces, and Cheese Festival.
Where had all the
food gone?!?!? It had been designated to this new made up wackness area, also know as
the VIP pier. There hadn't been a VIP
pier at any of the previous festival I
attended. The entire pier was open for attendees
to enjoy and partake in the deliciousness.
Now you had to pay a special price to get the same yumminess that use
to be included in the general admission ticket.
Granted, I did notice the general ticket price was much lower this year but, I didn't realize that meant my food tastings would be limited to oils,
sauces, cheeses, and Chipotle. I would
have happily paid a higher general admission price to enjoy the same quality of
food and amenities offered at previous festivals. The fact that I had to purchase food from a
food truck, though delicious, is simply UNACCEPTABLE !!!!!!!! No one should ever be hungry at a FOOD &
WINE festival, that’s just dumb. The
only thing dumber then that was the 100 feet of no drinking space that you had
to pass through in order to reach the other half of the festival. You literally had to finish your drink before
they let you cross to enjoy the rest of the festival and get another drink (SMH).
The drive hour drive from Baltimore to the Wine festival simple isn't worth it
anymore folks. Unless they can find a way to
provide the same quality experience at a standard ticket price I’m afraid this
will be my last year. L
Suggestion to Organizers:
Just call it a wine festival.
That way no one feels ripped off when they discover there’s not any real
food to sample.
