The Newport Seafood & Wine Festival
You’re invited to Newport’s biggest party!
The population of Newport is not quite 10,000, but on the last full weekend
in February it can swell to triple that number. What brings people from far
and wide to the coast in the throes of winter’s darkest days and sometimes
roughest weather? The promise of great food and drink, and the biggest party
Newport throws. The annual Newport Seafood and Wine Festival is a four-day
signature event with a festival atmosphere where more than 150 vendors,
including purveyors of seafood, craftspeople, and some 80 Northwest
wineries offer their goods in a gigantic tent in South Beach adjacent to the
Rogue brewery. The event is a fund-raiser for the Greater Newport Chamber
of Commerce.
For most visitors, the heart of the weekend is the opportunity to sample and
purchase a wide range of top-notch Northwest wines. Associated with the
event is the longest continuous wine competition in the Northwest, judged
by a panel of five regional wine experts. As the Northwest has grown as a
wine-producing region, so has the competition. Each Seafood & Wine Festival
wine vendor may enter up to three wines in the prestigious commercial
competition, judging of which happens before the festival so the winners can
be announced and sold at the event. An amateur competition is also held.
Paired with the excellent festival wines are unparalleled seafood offerings.
Newport is proud to be able to showcase the bounty of the Pacific that comes
through its port every year. You’ll find crab, bay shrimp, oysters, salmon,
albacore, and other local delicacies in abundance, as well as other types of
food.
Even outside of the festival’s 50,000 ft2 tent there is plenty of fun to be found
that weekend in Newport. The festival atmosphere spreads throughout the
community, as many local businesses and organizations plan special events
on the same weekend to take advantage of the crowds. Restaurants often
have special menus and live music, shops will have wine sales featuring
medal winners, and the local running club sponsors a 5K road race.
The 37th Annual Newport Seafood and Wine Festival will take place Thursday, February 20th through Sunday, February 23rd, 2014. For more information, see www.seafoodandwine.com.
Story by Nancy Steinberg for the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce Living and Doing Business Guide
