Festival brings added hype to town
Iconic rap group Public Enemy probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when guests visit the Highlands Food and Wine Festival.
But the 1980s hip-hop outfit and Highlands’ premier November event do have one thing in common – Hype.
More than three decades ago, Public Enemy introduced America to a crazy clock-wearing lyricist named Flavor Flav. As the group rose to stardom, first in and around New York City and then nationally, Flavor Flav embraced the role of “hype man.” He wasn’t the first rapper to get the crowd going with high energy and enthusiastic drop in lyrics during songs, but he was the first to make it his signature.
Flavor Flav and his Public Enemy cohorts Chuck D, Terminator X and Professor Griff, realized that playing shows was more fun if the crowd was into it. Flav’s job was to get them into it, and he did it with gusto.
The Highlands Food and Wine Festival begins today, and the hype for the event began less than 48 hours after the 2018 festival wrapped up. Record attendance and sold out events capped the 2018 edition and organizers did their best to create buzz for 2019.
All of the promotional effort paid off.
Tickets to the Grand Tasting and Truckin’ events sold out just hours after being made available to the public. Weekender passes to all of the events soon followed by selling out. As of press time, the only tickets left during the festival were for Friday’s Champaign Seminar, and those were nearly gone as well.
The Highlands Chamber of Commerce, with help from the Town of Highlands and dozens of businesses, has created a festival that has become a must-see attraction at a time in the year where tourism traditionally begins to wane. While the impact of the festival varies from business to business in Highlands, the exposure that it brings to the town is valuable in itself.
Growing Highlands’ tourism market, especially in the offseason (November through March), is an effort that makes sense for the Chamber, the Town and the local business community.
The Highlands Food and Wine Festival doesn’t just bring the noise, it continues to deliver on the hype.