COLUMBIA, S.C. — Organizers of the Columbia Food and Wine Festival (CFWF) have announced that this year's program has been trimmed back to two events due to concerns about COVID-19.
The festival, originally scheduled for a weekend in April and then postponed until a weekend in August, will consist of two outdoor events -- a dinner on August 22 and a brunch on August 23. The dinner and brunch will be held on the grounds of adjacent Historic Columbia properties, the Robert Mills House and the Hampton-Preston Home. Much of the previously announced programming developed for this year will be incorporated into next year’s festival, scheduled for April 22-25, 2021.
According to organizers, the outdoor dining experiences will be done in four zoned seating areas, with two zones on each historic property. Each zone will allow for up to 100 attendees, with total attendance capped at 400. At each event, attendees will enjoy a four-course meal prepared by a team of three to four chefs, with a different team preparing menu for each respective zone.
Festival organizers have developed a full safety plan for these events, including:
- Expanded registration/check-in process and physical space to allow for social distancing
- Utilizing digital thermometers to document all attendees’ body temperatures prior to check-in
- Disposable masks and individual hand sanitizer bottles available to all attendees
- Tables of no more than six seats, with each no less than six feet apart
- Established directions for each zone’s attendees to enter/exit the events.
- All courses will be individually plated and served.
Existing sponsors and CFWF ticket holders will have first access to purchase tickets to these experiences, beginning on Monday, July 13, at the CFWF website: columbiafoodandwinefestival.com.
- Remaining tickets will then be available for sale beginning Thursday, July 16.
- Festival goers will have the ability to choose which zone they attend knowing the featured chefs and menu theme.
- Brunch experience tickets will be $65 per person.
- Dinner experience tickets will be $95 per person.
- Pricing includes all food and beverages. Gratuity is not included.
- Existing ticket holders will also have the option to use their tickets for corresponding events during the 2021 festival.
Free Times alt-weekly newspaper is the host of CFWF events.
“While we regret that the 2020 Columbia Food and Wine Festival schedule cannot be carried out as it was originally intended, our team is excited for this reworked programming,” Free Times publisher Chase Heatherly said. “These controlled outdoor dining experiences will allow for us to fulfill our mission of highlighting and celebrating our region’s blossoming food and beverage industry while placing health and safety of our attendees and vendors as our top priority.”
Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Five Points Foundation, The Charitable Plate and The South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Education Foundation.
