If all goes as planned in 2022, the annual international wine event will return for its 43rd year on May 16-22.
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The dates were set, the venue booked, but then, the pandemic prompted a change of plans for the Vancouver International Wine Festival organizers — again.
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“We had our usual late February/early March dates booked for 2022, but the Delta variant hit just at the time we would have begun the winery selection process,” Harry Hertscheg, executive director of the Vancouver International Wine Festival, explains. “In a normal festival cycle, we would have announced the participating wineries at the end of September, so the extra time allows us to plan a more fulsome, safe and ultimately successful festival.”
Moving forward with planning for next year’s festival has allowed for an optimistic outlook for the organizational team, which took a hit due to the cancellation and restructuring of events for 2021.
“We were unable to mount a full-scale festival in February 2021, which has had a significant impact on our financial situation,” Hertscheg says. “We had developed plans for some smaller in-person seminars in the late fall of 2020, which had to be postponed when additional restrictions were introduced. We were able to raise some much-needed restart funds through our Bacchanalia Online Auction, through which we also developed new partnerships, including a key new sponsor, National Bank Private Banking 1859.
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“Nevertheless, staff were furloughed for nearly a year and have only just been brought back to plan for 2022.”
But, if all goes as planned in 2022, the annual international wine event will return for its 43rd year on May 16-22.
“We were relieved when dates in May became available at the Vancouver Convention Centre,” Hertscheg says of the shift. “A move to May dates also opens up the possibility of outdoor events, fewer travel restrictions, and a greater comfort level for attending events by both exhibitors and general public.”
When planning an event the size of the wine festival, which saw approximately 25,000 attendees take part in the 2020 festival and routinely sees more than 162 wineries from 15 countries travel to the city in order to take part in the event, comfort is key.
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“We feel this shift in dates will give our patrons more time to feel confident in crowds or at events, and that the desire for experiencing in-person events again will outweigh any hesitation,” Hertscheg says. “We are planning for fewer events and a lower capacity at each event to allow for more social distancing; as a result, there will be fewer tickets for sale, and so we’re still expecting most of the events to sell out.”
While there will undoubtedly be some changes at next year’s event, Hertscheg assures festivalgoers that there will be a similar slate of events as in years past.
“We are hoping to have a similar mix of programming in 2022, though with smaller capacities for some of our larger tasting events,” Hertscheg says.
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One thing that’s noticeably missing from the 2022 planning though, is the announcement of a theme region — 2020, the last year of the festival prior to the global pandemic, centred around France with a focus on global rosés — which is typically shared in advance with the wine festival dates.
“We have chosen not to feature a theme region for the 2022 festival, and recognizing that there may still be restrictions and uncertainty around travel, we will not be requiring attendance by international principals,” Hertscheg explains. “As well, while event capacities are returning to normal and movement is now allowed between tables in restaurants, we don’t know yet what the implications are for grazing, mingling and tasting events.”
With this in mind, the Bacchanalia Gala and Vintners Brunch will remain off the table for the 2022 event. The festival’s organizers are hoping for a “a full-fledged return” to programming in 2023.
Source: vancouversun.com
