The Bowen Island International Wine Festival (BIIWF), one of the Island’s most anticipated annual events, returns for its third edition on Thursday, October 27 from 6:30 to 9:00pm. This time, the Festival will be held at a new location: Evergreen Hall at 464 Melmore Road. Tickets, while they last, are just $50.00 per person, available exclusively at the Bowen Beer & Wine Cellar or Phoenix On Bowen.
Paul Rickett, manager of Bowen Beer & Wine Cellar, and one of the Festival organizers, has confirmed that 13 winery tables will be showcasing more than 65 delicious wines, a BIIWF record. Wines from France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, the USA, and British Columbia will be available for sampling. Since this year’s festival has been scheduled closer to the holidays, corks will be popped on a variety of delicious sparkling wines, perfect for seasonal entertaining. The Bowen Beer & Wine Cellar is offering a 10% discount on all wines poured at the Festival, the savings of which could cover the cost of the ticket.
For the third year in a row, three of Bowen’s most talented foodies, led by Park Heffelfinger, will again collaborate to provide delicious culinary offerings that will pair perfectly with this international wine experience. Heffelfinger, co-owner of Memphis Blues BBQ House, along with Julie Cree and Christophe Langlois, owners of Artisan Eats Café & Bakery, are excited to showcase an array of nibbles that will suit everything from Chardonnays to Zinfandels. Previous food selections have included pulled pork sliders, classic French gougères (bite-sized cheesy puff pastries), triple-smoked sausages, hand-selected cheese boards, freshly-baked breads and more. Who knows what they’ll come up with this year?
Since the Festival’s inception in 2014, 100% of proceeds have been donated to the Bowen Island Children’s Centre (BCC), an indispensible part of the Island community since 1971. Programs at BCC include the Bowen Island Preschool, BCC Daycare, the After School Club, Family Place and an inspiring program of music classes. As a non-profit society, the BCC relies on community events such as this for support. This year, the Bowen Island Wine Festival will hit an important milestone: raising more than $10,000 for the BCC, something that the organizers are very proud of.
“We’ve had this monetary goal of in mind for years,” says Festival co-organizer Sujinder Juneja. “Paul, Park and I are grateful for the combined efforts of the amazing volunteers at the Children’s Centre, and our other community sponsors over the past three years. It has taken some work, but we’ve been able to create an exciting evening that’s fun for the whole community. We can’t wait the 27th.”
Key support for this year’s festival includes the hard work and talent of Lucia Arreaga, Jana Honing, and Dayna Kreutzer-Purdy from the Children’s Centre. Special thanks goes to Maureen Armstrong of Evergreen Hall for hosting this year’s event. A tip of the hat to Dan Parkin and Julia McLaughlin who donated space at The Lodge at the Old Dorm for the previous two years. Some very special memories were created there.
Since there is no parking at Evergreen Hall itself, Peter King will generously be providing free bus transportation to and from the event, for the third year in a row. Shuttles will leave from the Bowen Island Community School to Evergreen Hall at 6:25pm and 6:45pm. To make sure wine lovers get a safe ride home, a return shuttle service is provided at 8:15pm and 9:15pm.
Thank you to The Office @ Artisan Square for graciously sponsoring the printing of posters and tickets. Have you got your tickets yet?
For the latest updates, and to share your photos and memories, check out Bowen Wine Festival (@BowenWineFest) on Facebook and Twitter.
