The 'Art of Illinois Wine Festival'
Looking for a way to taste some of the best of Illinois wine without spending a weekend driving all over the state?
The Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association (IGGVA), Downtown Springfield Inc. (DSI), and the Old Capitol Foundation are teaming up again to offer the third annual Art of Illinois Wine Festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 15 and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 16 in Downtown Springfield.
Featuring 20 Illinois wineries, the event is open to anyone 21 years of age or older and will be held at the southwest corner of Fifth and Jefferson Streets in downtown Springfield (map below).
Admission is $10, which includes a wine glass and five sampling tickets. Wine may also be purchased by the glass, bottle and case.
And if the wine alone isn’t enough to bring you for a visit, the festival is situated right next to the Old Capitol Art Fair. Almost 50 years old, it’s one of the most popular, juried art fairs in the country, which was, “originally developed to contribute to the community’s cultural, social, and economic growth, the Fair has become an acknowledged success and a model for fairs in other cities.”
Some of the wineries that will be on hand include Prairie State Winery (Genoa), Pheasant Hollow Winery (Whittington), Shawnee Winery (Vienna) and Baxters Winery (Nauvoo). You can get the whole list from the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association website.
You can let Amtrak do the driving if you’re on the Chicago-St. Louis corridor, and if you want to spend the night, there are three hotels within walking distance of the festival site.
Disclosure- I ‘m on the organizing committee for this event, volunteering my time to help with media and promotion.
-Scott Troehler
Twitter: @Scott217
To learn more about Scott, check out his bio.
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More info:
Art of Illinois Wine event page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116739811675440&index=1
Downtown Springfield, Inc. (DSI) on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/DowntownSpringfieldInc
Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association
http://www.illinoiswine.com
Old State Capitol Foundation
http://www.oldstatecapitol.org/foundation.htm
Old Capitol Art Fair
http://www.socaf.org/
Getting there:
[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113849109827449889535.000484a276127d569a4d0&ll=39.802898,-89.648266&spn=0.003956,0.006866&z=17&iwloc=000484a28064cfebe2451&output=embed&w=640&h=480]
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