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FeedAugust 2012: Spree Insider
America’s Grape Country Wine Festival
A little beer and wine in the August sun sounds nice, doesn’t it? Here are two Spree-sponsored events with drinks, music, and much more.
The Buffalo Irish Festival
The Buffalo Irish Festival is back for year thirty-one on August 24, 25, and 26, this year at Canalside, its new location. There is truly no more fitting place for a celebration of Irish heritage than alongside the renowned waterway whose 1825 construction relied so heavily on the sweat and blood of Irish immigrants.
“The festival is an invitation to all of Buffalo to be Irish for the day,” says festival public relations and marketing director Susan Kirkpatrick. In the Queen City, that’s certainly not too difficult, and it should mean large crowds will be on-hand to shop for Irish goods and crafts from distinguished national vendors, listen to traditional music, watch some step dancing, or enjoy beer with friends. The festival also features a theatrical production with a specific focus on the history of the Irish in Buffalo, a raffle to win a trip for two to Ireland, and much more.
The festival kicks off with an opening parade of the thirty-two County Flags of Ireland on Friday, August 24, at 5:30 p.m., and will continue until 9 p.m. on Sunday, August 26. Tickets can be purchased at Wegmans, Shannon Pub, Buffalo Brew Pub, and the Tara Gift Shoppe. For more information, call 743-9348, or visit buffaloirish.com/irishfestival.htm.—G. N.
America’s Grape Country Wine Festival
Organizers call Amercia’s Grape Country Wine Festival the largest state-wide wine festival in WNY, and the Merritt Estate Winery-sponsored weekend returns on August 11 to 12 at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds in Dunkirk.
Attendees can sample the finest creations from dozens of wineries and food artisans, and buy wine accessories from various vendors, or take in cooking demonstrations and wine seminars. The first festival was held in 2008, and has grown each year; in 2011, its first headline concert was held, featuring Sean Patrick McGraw and Uncle Kracker. The event brought together an audience of over 1,500 people, and this year’s headliner is no less of a draw: Canadian rock legends the Guess Who.
Edwin Rodriguez, a member of the marketing and promotions department at Merritt Estate Winery says this year, the festival’s fifth and the concert’s second, is looking to be the most exciting yet. “Our turnout continues to rise every year, and we’re excited to see how our crowd grows with the Guess Who coming to play,” he says. “We also have some great new additions—several new wineries, craft vendors, a couple new opening bands, and the creation of our cooking demonstrations. We also had a few new sponsors this year, which shows that we’re making a solid impression on local businesses. Keeping the image of wine fresh and relevant to every demographic is hard, but we’re proud to say we bring out the best of both worlds.”
For more information, or to buy concert tickets, visit agcwinefestival.com.—J. M.
Spree intern Gillian Nigro will be a sophomore at Ithaca College this fall, while intern Jennifer Musone will be a sophomore at the University at Buffalo.
