The 2nd Annual Fine Wine & Food Festival is returning to NYCB Live: Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The festival will take place on Saturday, Jan. 19, with two sessions, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. VIP entry is 30 minutes prior to each start time.
The festival will showcase wineries from the North Fork of Long Island, upstate New York and New Jersey, all offering samples of their finest wines. VIP guests will get to enjoy a meet and greet with baseball legends Doc Gooden and Mookie Wilson, who will be signing autographs and taking pictures with VIP ticketholders in the Grant Thornton VIP Lounge.
This year’s event has something for everyone. The wine will be flowing, and there will even be a wine aerialist pouring samples suspended in air. Foodies will be excited to hear that dozens of food vendors from Long Island and New York City will be bringing their special tastes and fine cuisines to the event.
If you are in the mood for beer, the festival will have a beer garden area with picnic style seating where select brews can be sampled. There will be music served up by WBLI’s Tyler B throughout the day, along with raffles and prizes.
“We look to build off of last year’s exciting festival with brand new vendors and more entertainment,” said Jason Cohen and Lou DeMartino, executive directors of the festival. “It’s a great way to sample wine and food from all over New York. We are also so excited to bring Doc and Mookie back home, and have them be such a big part of our event.”
Cohen, DeMartino and two of the other festival directors, Nevin Joseph and Danny Cohen, have once again teamed up with the American Red Cross to donate a portion of proceeds from the Fine Wine & Food Festival to the Wildfire & Hurricane Relief projects as part of their “Corks for Charity” program.
General admission tickets are $49 (advanced purchase) and $65 (event day purchase). General admission tickets include admission to the festival, a souvenir tasting glass, a souvenir tote bag, and the freedom to enjoy samples of any of the wines, spirits and beer present at the festival.
VIP tickets are $125 and include 30 minutes early entry, access to Gooden and Wilson in the Grant Thornton VIP Lounge, an education lesson and wine sampling from a wine sommelier, and food samplings from Crop & Kettle.
Food will be available for purchase; free samples are provided at vendor discretion. No one under 21, including designated drivers, will be admitted and photo ID is required for entry. More event details can be found at www.finewineandfoodfest.com. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online at TicketWeb.com, or at the Ticketmaster Box Office located at Nassau Coliseum.
