HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.3 Food & Wine Festival~~~~ ~~ n~~~~
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DATE:
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT
STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
CITY CLERK
File #950-40
November 1, 2011
Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
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Joni Pattillo, City Manager ° ~'
Draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan
Prepared by Stephanie Mein, Special Events Coordinator
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The City Council will receive a report on a Draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan for
September of 2012 at Emerald Glen Park, which will replace the discontinued Day on the Glen
Festival.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
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. If the Draft Event Plan is approved by
the City Council, a Budget Change will be brought forward at a subsequent meeting.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the report and approve the Food and Wine
Festival Plan or provide alternate direction.
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Submitted By
Director of Parks and
Community Services
Reviewed By
Assistant City Manager
Page 1 of 4 ITEM NO. 7.3
DESCRIPTION:
On May 17, 2011, the City Council directed Staff to develop a draft plan and identify event
components for a festival with an international 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 cone-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 is
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 surrounding area as well as
throughout the Bay Area. Art and Wine events are common and are offered in many
communities. Staff believes that this event would be set apart from other events through 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 markets such as Whole
Foods and Trader Joes.
This event would differ from the Day on the Glen Festival and St. Patrick's Day Celebration in as
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, Tree Lighting Ceremony, Spring Eggstravaganza, and the
new Harvest Gathering which are designed for children and their families.
Below is a summary of the proposed components of the event.
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 of Emerald Glen Park 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 restaurant 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.
Page 2 of 4
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 truck 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 would 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 exhibit would circle the
perimeter of the center 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.
Page 3 of 4
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.
At the October 17, 2011 Parks and Community Services Commission meeting, the Commission
received the draft proposal for the Food and Wine Festival and unanimously recommended
approval of the plan to the City Council.
If the draft Food and Wine Festival Event Plan is approved by the City Council, 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. As part of the planning
process, Staff would develop a festival name and a branding and promotions plan event for City
Council approval at a subsequent meeting. Staff would establish a date for the event after a
review of other events planned in the area during September.
NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A copy of the Staff Report was distributed to: Parks and Community Services Commission.
ATTACHMENTS: None
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