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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.1 Draft Food&Wine Festival Event Plan G~~~ OF Dp~~~ 19' ~..~~~' `82 `~~~/ AGENDA STATEMENT `~, ~ ~ ~~ PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION ~LrFOR~ MEETING DATE: October 17, 2011 SUBJECT: Draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan Report by: Stephanie Mein, Special Events Coordinator ATTACHMENTS: None RECOMMENDATION: Receive the report and recommend approval of the draft Food and Wine Festival event plan to the City Council or provide an alternate recommendation FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Additional resources would be needed to implement the event. Staff estimates there would be approximately $95,000 in direct expenditures with approximately $20,000 in revenue, resulting in a net cost of $75,000 in the first year. This does not include the costs for Police, Fire or Public Works to provide support services for the event. BACKGROUND: On May 17, 2011 the City Council directed Staff to develop a draft plan and identify event components for a festival with a food and wine theme to be introduced in 2012. Over the past several months Staff has conducted research on and attended similar festivals in northern California to identify potential festival activities and themes. Staff has also reached out to local restaurants, caterers and wineries for ideas and buy-in. Based on that research, Staff has developed the following draft event plan. OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED EVENT Staff recommends aone-day Food and Wine themed festival be held in September 2012 that would feature the fine wines and international cuisine of Dublin and the Tri-Valley region, along with art and music in the beautiful outdoor setting of Emerald Glen Park. If the event was successful the City could consider expanding it to two days in the future. Staff has researched a number of events which are offered in the area as well as throughout the Bay Area. Art and Wine events are common and are offered in many communities. What would set this event apart is the inclusion of food and cooking as a featured element. This is a growing trend in the event world, evidenced by the popularity of Farmer's Markets, organic foods, Alice Waters' "Slow Food" movement, the mobile "Food Truck" craze and also the success of stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes. COPIES TO: ITEM NO.: 7.1 G:\PARKS COMMISSION\AGNDSTMT\2011\10-17 Item 7.1 Food and Wine Festival.doc This event would be different than the Day on the Glen Festival and St. Patrick's Day Celebration in that there would be more of an upscale feel. Although the target audience for the event would be adults, the event would be family friendly with some children's activities available. Currently the City offers events such as the St. Patrick's Day Celebration, Breakfast with Santa, the Tree Lighting Ceremony, Spring Eggstravaganza, and the Harvest Gathering which are designed for children and their families. The event would include a variety of components as follows. EVENT COMPONENTS International Food and Wine Pavilion The International Food and Wine Pavilion would be the centerpiece of the event and would be located in the center plaza near Gleason Drive, in the area where the Farmer's Market has been held. Guests would enjoy wine tastings from local wineries along with food samplings from restaurants and caterers from Dublin and the surrounding area. Staff would draw on the variety of international cuisines available in the Tri-Valley such as American, Asian, California, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Thai. Local food vendors and wineries would participate free of charge and be provided with volunteer servers from local non-profit and community groups, as needed. Each non-profit group would be compensated for their volunteer hours. Attendees would purchase tickets at the event to participate in the wine tastings and food samplings and be provided with wine glasses and tasting plates. Guests could purchase wine tickets, food tickets or both. Each ticket would be valid for a sampling from a re;staurant or a tasting of wine. The restaurants and caterers would be rotated throughout the day and would provide a limited quantity of items to sample. A wine list and a menu with a serving schedule would be provided. Two additional wine and beverage bars would also be available at the event, separate from the :Food and Wine Pavilion. International Street Cart /Mobile Food Truck Court Staff recommends having a-la-carte food vendors to augment the ticketed tasting pavilion. Rather than traditional tented festival food vendors, Staff suggests taking advantage of the popular mobile food truck trend. A Food Truck Court featuring local and regional tn.~ck favorites with an international flair would continue the theme of American and International cuisine. No tickets would be required for the Food Truck Court. Vendors would pay a fee to participate in the :festival and sell food directly to attendees. Wine & Culinary Stage Food and cooking demonstrations by local and celebrity chefs as well as presentations by local wine- makers would take place throughout the day. Events at this stage as well as the Main Stage would be free and open to the public. Main Stage Guests would enjoy a variety of free musical entertainment including jazz, contemporary, classical, swing or big band. Both the Main Stage and the Culinary Stage would be located in close proximity to the Food and Wine Pavilion so that attendees could enjoy the entertainment while sampling the food and wine. Wine and Beverage Bars Wine and beer along with non-alcoholic beverages would be available for purchase. Festival volunteers from local non-profit and community groups would be recruited to work in the wine and beverage bars and be compensated for their volunteer hours. A selection of premium domestic and international wines and beers would be served. Outdoor Art Exhibit An outdoor art exhibit and sale would be on display during the event in coordination with local artists and those in the art programs at the Dublin Senior Center. The e-xhibit would circle the perimeter of the center 2 of 3 plaza for guests to enjoy during the food and wine tasting. Art with a food and/or wine theme would be encouraged. Sidewalk Chalk Art Demonstration A professional street artist would create a chalk art display on sidewalk areas in the park during the event, with the art relating to the theme of food and wine. Attendees would get to watch the process and see the finished piece before the end of the day. An adjacent area would be designated and chalk would be provided to those children or adults inspired to participate and create a masterpiece of their own. Culinary Marketplace Delicious pre-packaged specialty items such as breads, candies, pies, chocolates, spices, teas, coffees etc. would be sold by vendors. Items related to wine and food such as wine glasses, cutting boards, utensils, etc. would be sold as well. Staff would also extend an invitation to the Farmers Market Association to setup a special market the day of the event. Arts and Crafts Market Arts and crafts featuring fine handmade, one-of-a-kind items including ceramics, sculpture, art glass, jewelry etc. would be sold by vendors. Kid's Pavilion and Activities A youth version of the adult "Food and Wine Pavilion" would offer free fruit, vegetable and snack tastings from vendors and grocers such as "Clif Bar", "Farm Fresh to You" and "Sprouts" etc. along with fruit juice samplings. Although staff does not envision carnival rides for the event, other activities such as a Children's Stage near the Fountain and Play Structure off Central Parkway, roaming entertainers, snack vendors, a kid's "street art" area, "Healthy Kids" presentations and a portable rock climbing wall may be considered. Staff has been in contact with the Valley Children's Museum, which is interested in having the "Moving Mission" open during the event to offer hands-on play for children as well as information and tours. SUMMARY The new Food and Wine event is not expected to be comparable in attendance to the "Day on the Glen" event in its first year. The focus initially would be to promote the event primarily in the Tri-Valley, focusing on meeting the needs of the Dublin Community. For the first year, the success would be based primarily on the overall feedback from the vendors, participants and attendees. Following the first year, attendance and participant statistics may be used to judge the success of the event. As the event expands, based on community feedback, the focus could broaden to a more regional draw, if warranted. Following consideration of this item by the Parks and Community Services Commission, Staff will be presenting the draft event plan to the City Council for final approval in November. If approved, planning for the new event would begin immediately, which would require funding this Fiscal Year for a temporary part-time employee. Additional resources would be requested as part of the Fiscal Year 2012-2013 budget to implement the event in September 2012. Once the final event concept is approved by the City Council, Staff would select a catchy festival name and begin the branding process for the event. Staff would establish a date for the event after a review of other events planned in the area during September. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Parks and Community Services Commission receive the report and recommend approval of the draft Food and Wine Festival event plan to the City Council or provide an alternate recommendation. 3 of 3