Hilton Head Wine and Food Festival changing dates, locations for 2021 event
Mark your calendars! The Hilton Head Wine and Food Festival, typically held each spring, is making a move to fall for 2021.
In a Facebook post on Monday, organizers announced the festival will be held Sept. 16-19 and hinted at “something very special to safely welcome wine enthusiasts.”
The festival, which is in its 36th year, also is making a physical move to the new Celebration Park in Hilton Head’s Coligny area. For the past six years, the festival has been held in various venues at Harbour Town in Sea Pines.
Celebration Park opened on Hilton Head’s south end Dec. 10. On a portion of the 10-acre park, a large green space has been outfitted with electric hook-ups for food trucks, music and vendors for festivals and other events.
Jeff Gerber, executive director, said organizers have been talking about switching dates since the fall.
“It’s all about safety for people,” he said, explaining that the schedule is not finalized. “We’re going to at least do our three bigger events that we always do.”
On Thursday, Sept. 16, the festival will hold its Stay Gold event that focuses on double gold medal-winning wines, followed on Friday, Sept. 17, with the formal Grand Tasting. The largest and most casual part of the festival, the Public Tasting on Saturday, Sept. 18, will be open to the public.
Other events may be added depending on the state of the coronavirus pandemic and whether people feel comfortable gathering, Gerber said.
“There’s no playbook for this,” he said. “There is no pattern to follow.”
Those interested in purchasing tickets should watch for more information coming this summer.
Last March, the festival changed the venue for its Grand Tasting from indoors to outdoors as COVID cases began to appear in South Carolina and social distancing mandates were put into place. The Public Tasting was canceled.
In 2019, around 3,000 people attended events related to a week-long festival, which had an estimated $3.5 million impact on local businesses, Gerber said. The festival raises funds to provide scholarships and financial support for culinary programs at University of South Carolina Beaufort and Technical College of the Lowcountry.
