Everything you need to know about Columbia Food and Wine Festival 2020

ICYMI, the third annual Columbia Food and Wine Festival – originally scheduled for late April – was rescheduled to Aug. 20-23, 2020 due to COVID-19. Now, the festival’s organizers have reimagined the event for it to safely take place in a new, exciting format.

Here’s everything you need to know about #CFWF2020: How plans have changed, what safety measures are in place, and how festival-goers can feel like they’re on an episode of Top Chef – right here in Cola.

What it looked like before:

• 7 small, intimate “satellite events” across the region across 3 days (originally Aug. 20-22)
• Main outdoor tasting event at Historic Columbia’s Hampton Preston Mansion on Aug. 23
• Festival organizers determined that holding these events would not allow for adequate social distancing. So they did what #SodaCitizens do best: Got creative + made a plan.

What it looks like now:

• 2 outdoor, seated dining experiences: Dinner on Sat., August 22 at 7:30 p.m. + brunch on Sunday, August 23 at 11:00 a.m.
• The outdoor meals will be held at the Hampton-Preston Mansion and its sister property the Robert Mills House, both managed by Historic Columbia.
• Each outdoor meal will have four zoned seating areas, with two zones on each historic property.
• Each zone will allow for up to 100 attendees, with total attendance per experience capped at 400.
• At each event, attendees will enjoy a four-course meal prepared by a team of 3-4 chefs, with a different team preparing the menu for each respective zone. Kind of like an episode of Top Chef. 😍
• Chefs include Kristian Niemi of Black Rooster + Bourbon, Nelson De Hoyos of Hall’s Chophouse, Jessica Shillato of Spotted Salamander Cafe & Catering + more.

Safety measures in place:

• Expanded registration/check-in process with physical space to allow for social distancing + crowd control
• Utilizing digital thermometers to document all attendees’ temps prior to check-in
• Disposable masks + individual hand sanitizer bottles available to all attendees, with masks required at any point a guest is not sitting at their table
• Tables of no more than six seats, with each table 6+ feet apart
• Established directions for each zone’s attendees to enter/exit
• All courses will be individually plated and served.

Ticketing info:

• Brunch experience tickets are $65/person, with dinner tickets going for $95/person.
• Pricing includes all food + beverages – gratuity is not included.
• Festival-goers get to choose their zone knowing the featured chefs + menu theme.
• Already had tickets to the original festival events for 2020? They can be exchanged for tickets to the new dining experiences or shifted to use in 2021.

Quiz:

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