It’s that time of year again.
The Highlands Food and Wine Festival will be taking over town beginning Thursday and running through Sunday. This year will feature the traditional lineup of events, as well as newly added “off-site” events at several local restaurants.
Every year since its inception six years ago, it seems the festival has gotten a little bit bigger and a little bit better. Highlands Festivals Inc, Eleven Events, the Highlands Chamber of Commerce and all of the local businesses who help make the festival come alive have not only embraced the late fall event but done their part to ensure its continued success in the future.
While Highlands always has world-class restaurants, and wine selections for any palate, bringing vendors to town from across the Southeast highlights just how remarkable the food scene is in our small mountain hamlet.
As if the amazing smells and tastes of the Highlands Food and Wine Festival weren’t enough to draw a crowd, the 2022 entertainment lineup is perhaps the most star-studded in the event’s history.
Thursday’s Grand Tasting will feature a performance by Lyric. A favorite on the Asheville music scene, Lyric has been shaking audiences across the southeast for several years.
On Friday, Lilly Hiatt and The Texas Gentlemen will take the stage during Truckin’. The Texas Gentlemen represent their namesake state with “brass fueled Dixie-style jazz” and “country funk.” Hiatt, a Nashville-based singer songwriter, boasts a soulful and introspective catalog that reached new heights with her most recent album “Walking Proof.”
Durand Jones and the Indications will share their “modern soul and disco influence” during the Generous Pour event, also on Friday.
The Main Event, on Saturday, will feature Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway followed by Old Crow Medicine Show. For more than 20 years, Old Crow Medicine Show has been bringing folk tunes to the masses. Anchored by the hit double platinum single “Wagon Wheel,” the band has won two Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Grand Ole Opry.
The festival will wrap up with the Sunday Shindig, headlined by the California Honeydrops, who will close the weekend with their signature blend of funk, Delta blues and Southern soul.
If you are fortunate and have tickets for any of this weekend’s events, be safe and enjoy the sights and sounds of Highlands Food and Wine.