I am really glad they have hush puppies, Smithfield ham, and she crab soup. I really do not know where I would go in South Eastern VA, especially in and around Williamsburg to find these things!
Food & Wine Festival
- Thread starter bgbackdoor
- Start date
I was just skimming the F&W site to see if there had been any updates (the map is up and the right side of the park looks extremely heavy in the booth department), and I found this.
Live Music
This year local, up and coming bands will grace the German stage next to the swings. Brilliant idea and the shows seem substantial enough to draw a crowd. Four shows each Friday night. I think there's a brilliant opportunity to eventually move the VA booth closer to the stage and let it highlight VA culture in general...wink wink BG wink wink
Also it appears that two new wine tastings have been introduced this year: Niagara tastings at the Acada Tradings in New France and Argentinian wines in Germany - could we be seeing some South American flavors offered next year???
Live Music
This year local, up and coming bands will grace the German stage next to the swings. Brilliant idea and the shows seem substantial enough to draw a crowd. Four shows each Friday night. I think there's a brilliant opportunity to eventually move the VA booth closer to the stage and let it highlight VA culture in general...wink wink BG wink wink
Also it appears that two new wine tastings have been introduced this year: Niagara tastings at the Acada Tradings in New France and Argentinian wines in Germany - could we be seeing some South American flavors offered next year???
We have never had any trouble getting our discounts at the booths.
Zimmy said:
I think you've had too much of the ham because that's a lot of salt.
Has anybody used the 10 for $35 pass before? Is it a painless thing or did it have a lot of complications?
Pretzel Kaiser said:
It's a new offer, so I don't think anybody can give you an answer to that question yet.
I did the $35 (plus $3.50 tax) pass yesterday. I used the printout at the first booth: Virginia. At the Hawaiian booth, they transferred everything over to a large, laminated pass with a bar code. It was a quick scan at subsequent booths and you received a receipt indicating how many items you have left. It's good for the whole F&W Festival, so you don't have to use it in one day. As hot as it was yesterday, I only ate 5 items. (FWIW, those 5 items totaled $25 before any pass holder discounts. So 10 items for $38.50 is a bargain if you get some of the $5 and $6 dishes.)
For reference, BGT charges $25 for 5 dishes and uses laminated punch cards. 5 dishes at Tampa amounted to about 1 entree worth of food.
I'm here now - The gumbo. Just get it. Do it.
Also the weather is terrible but the lines are nonexistent.
Also the weather is terrible but the lines are nonexistent.
We opened and closed the place yesterday. The lines were great all day. Around 5-6 PM the rain cleared and most rides and food booths were a walk on at that point. We did rent a cabana for both days. I was a little disappointed with how much the cabanas leaked in the rain yesterday. It was better than being out in the open but not much better.
We enjoyed both days at the festival. The bottleneck for the booths appears to be the registers. Not sure why that is. I understand why it is slow when the cashier is also getting the drinks. At other booths, I am not sure if it is processing transactions on their network is slow, if it is people asking questions about the food or just being indecisive, or if it is inexperienced cashiers. I think it might be a little bit of everything. Once beyond the registers, the rest of the process is pretty fast.
I do appreciate that all of the festival workers I ran into this trip were happy and taking their time making sure my beverages were filled to the top. I also had no problems when I asked for an extra container of sauce at the Caribbean booth. Not sure if that would happen at all booths. I was happy it did there.
I also liked the volume level of the ambient music around most of the booths. Not overpowering at all.
We enjoyed both days at the festival. The bottleneck for the booths appears to be the registers. Not sure why that is. I understand why it is slow when the cashier is also getting the drinks. At other booths, I am not sure if it is processing transactions on their network is slow, if it is people asking questions about the food or just being indecisive, or if it is inexperienced cashiers. I think it might be a little bit of everything. Once beyond the registers, the rest of the process is pretty fast.
I do appreciate that all of the festival workers I ran into this trip were happy and taking their time making sure my beverages were filled to the top. I also had no problems when I asked for an extra container of sauce at the Caribbean booth. Not sure if that would happen at all booths. I was happy it did there.
I also liked the volume level of the ambient music around most of the booths. Not overpowering at all.
BGWFans just posted our first of two reviews of the 2016 F&WF. This article focuses on the individual booths and identifies our selections for Best in Booth for each. Next week we will evaluate the event as a whole, and provide lists of recommended entrees and desserts.
We hope the post is useful, and that maybe some people will try things they might otherwise have overlooked.
A special thank you to my friend Renee, and Forum members Tony and Username.
We hope the post is useful, and that maybe some people will try things they might otherwise have overlooked.
A special thank you to my friend Renee, and Forum members Tony and Username.