The 2023 Highlands Food and Wine Festival continued the event’s tradition of showcasing the best and brightest of the Southeast’s culinary scene. Add in a musical lineup of nationally recognized performers, and the four-day festival was a banner effort by organizers Eleven Events and Highlands Festivals Inc.
Crowds came to the plateau from far and wide, and even people from as far away as Chicago found their way to the Food and Wine Festival. Ginny Leamy and Brent Terry took a long trip to celebrate a milestone - Leamy’s sixtieth birthday - and wound their way from Ohio to Highlands.
The two knew the Davis family, owners of High Country Provisions, and heard about the festival through that grapevine.
“We’ve been eating and drinking our way through Highlands,” Leamy said.
The two were happy for sunnier weather Sunday, but Leamy praised the organizers, Eleven Events.
“Even with the rain yesterday, everybody was good. Everybody was happy,” Leamy said.
Casey Reid, an organizer of the festival, also bragged about the sunnier weather Sunday after a dreary day on Saturday.
“Today, the weather definitely helped. It was a great way to close the festival,” Reid said. Reid described the soulful Sunday, themed “Shot At Redemption,” as “comfortable and laid back.”
The festival opened on Thursday night with the “Grand Tasting” hosted at The Bascom Center for Visual Arts. Thursday’s festivities featured gourmet small plates from some of the top chefs in the region and music by Southern Avenue.
On Friday it was time for “Truckin’” perhaps the most casual of the Food and Wine events. Held this year in Kelsey-Hutchinson Founders Park, the new venue shined as food trucks, beverage carts, and vendor booths filled both sides of the promenade. End of the Line and Matt Koziol provided the music and the couch-covered hillside adjacent to First Bank became the go-to place to party.
A damp Saturday didn’t slow down the party too much, as The Main Event filled Main Street in Highlands with food and beverage stations ahead of performances by Katie Pruitt and festival headliner Grace Potter.
Sunday’s “Shot at Redemption” brunch featured music by The War and Treaty as well as The Harlem Gospel Travelers.
Following another successful four-day run, plans are already underway for the 2024 Highlands Food and Wine Festival. Anyone who attended this year’s event is encouraged to go to highlandsfoodandwine.com to take a short survey about their experience, which will help organizers plan for future festivals.