Alexandria’s Food & Wine Festival

Rained out… only 10 – 12 vendors showed up and ran out of food within 45 mins of opening… no refunds given. Beware for next year and do not buy your tickets in advance

The food that was there was good and the wine was extensive but I think overall, it was overpriced. The food samples were tasty and I enjoyed it, but the food tickets were a bit expensive in my opinion. $ 15 for a sheet of 8 tickets and the samples were 2 – 4 tickets per sample. As a «festival» goes, I think this is a bit pricy.
The wine garden was a wonderful idea, but it was inside a tent area that was way too small. It was crowded, loud, and there was a lack of air flow. They had an entire middle area and were only using half of it. I wish they had spread the wineries out a little so people had room to walk around and taste without being squished into close proximity to people.
I think next year, if they decide to do this again, they need to have a few more food selections that aren’t as expensive to taste and the wine garden definitely needs to be spread out. I can see this festival being a huge success as long as the planners rethink a few things for next year.

I think the other posters have covered the major drawbacks of this festival, namely the lack of tents/​shade and the horrendously overpriced food. To call this event a half-​assed attempt at putting on a «food and wine festival» would be a compliment.
Let’s see… where do I start? Well, the wine tent was overcrowded and disgusting. There were maybe a dozen wine vendors and actually getting a tasting was a chore. Not only were there huge crowds around each table, but some of the wine vendors were so rude that they caused half the trouble. One winery had a strict policy of only pouring wine if you were standing along one side of their front table (keep in mind there are tables on both sides with plenty of room to stand along, which all the other vendors made full use of). If you were let’s say 6-​inches to the left of their imaginary foul line, then you were not allowed to taste their wine. Period! The woman working at this table was very rude, and appeared to take great pleasure in making up and imposing nonsensical rules like this just to frustrate customers.
On the other hand their were a few vendors who actually had people who cared about good wine and wanted to talk about it. To my surprise I was even given some great descriptions and tasting notes on some of the wines. For these vendors who have gone far above and beyond, I rewarded them by purchasing a full glass of wine from them. They were so flattered by this gesture (heck the glasses of wine were often only $ 5.00) that they gave me some ridiculously generous pours. The wine was practically overflowing from my glass as other patrons looked on with envy. In fact, one guy waiting patiently in line for a tiny tasting told me that he was seriously rethinking his strategy as the economic cost of dealing with the almost skin-​on-​skin crowds standing in line was not worth the time or hassle versus paying $ 5.00 for a glass and actually enjoying your day.

The food was yummy and everyone was friendly. The wine tent was a huge disappointment! We ended up leaving and I never had any wine. The tables were very crowded and it was difficult to get a sample of anything. People were planted in front of a spot and weren’t moving. The one time we managed to get up to someone, she skipped over us several times and then finally poured a drop of a white in my boyfriend’s glass. I asked for a red so she went on to someone else. The tent space needs to be larger and the tables should be spread out so everyone can have access to the samples. The wine tasting was a waste of money!

Great initiative! This festival had a great turnout for being the first time that Alexandria had a food and wine festival. It would be great if the event was held in the Spring or Fall when the weather is cooler. There was great food and wine to taste. I can’t wait for next year’s festival.

I had a great time but was hot, nothing to be done about that. Good food and wine.
Cant wait for next yr.

This was a poorly organized event with a lot of room for improvement. I seriously considered throwing a fit and asking for my ticket money back… but instead I’ll throw a fit here and write the organizers.
1) I would agree about the shade tents. I had to escape across the street. Regardless of the temperature– shade is our friend.
2) Signage. Signage. Signage. It was not clear where you bought your tickets (the tent said «tickets» and «military» so it wasn’t clear if those tickets were JUST for military). Signage for food. Signage for lines. Signage for what actually is being served for those of us with food allergies. Signage to let you know you have to buy the wine garden ticket before you get your wristband so you’re not stuck in line only to find out you have to go back and pay. Perhaps maybe a map next year?
3) Less lines or more organized lines. You had no idea where you had to stand or where you had to go, and I believe I cut a line once (sorry). It’s not worth it to stand in line for that long unless it’s at Disneyland.
4) More places to purchase water– I didn’t see one stand where I could purchase water and that’s necessary on so many levels.
5) Better prepared– the frozen ice place was out of two flavors by 3 p.m.
For something that sounded so neat, this was an epic fail.

Ok. It’s there first year, with LOTS of room for improvement. 90 degrees… Sunny day, maybe a perfect day, but they need shade tents next time.
The first two student bands tried their best, but Alass they needy practice or new lead singers. At 1 pm a good local band started. Better…
Food lines quickly became extremely long, and initially folks could not serve until the health department said it was ok. (((reminder next year — get that done by 11 am then open at Noon.
Wineries. Toooo long of lines… And move it away from directly in front of the stage and main speakers. Deafening.