THUNDER BAY – Prince Arthur’s Landing will come alive on Aug. 12 with the fourth annual WineOh! Festival.
This marks the second year for the full festival event, after organizers scaled down during the pandemic. This year’s WineOh! will feature dozens of different wines from all over Ontario, says Kerry Berlinquette of Breakwater Events, who is organizing the event with her business partner Jon Handel.
“We are bringing in all Ontario wines, ciders and seltzers and that’s our only criteria basically, is that we try to keep it within our own province,” Berlinquette said.
Among the wines, one beer produced by Dawson Trails Brewery will be featured. The beer is called March of Limes, a take on the charity group March of Dimes that the event is sponsoring. A portion of the proceeds will support the After Stroke program.
Berlinquette says the event is like a springboard to entice people into the local restaurants and bars after the event is over.
“Typically, after these types of events, everyone goes downtown because we encourage that and that’s why our event is only four hours long,” she said. “We’re not in the food or bar business so we’re encouraging people and telling people, ‘Hey, this is where you should go.’
She says they will direct festival patrons to local establishments where they can find the festival-featured Ontario wines served.
“John and I don’t do this to make money. We do it for fun because we want to build that community,” she said.
Handel added, “We have worked on this synergy between our events and the Waterfront District for close to a decade with great success.”
He says Breakwater Events’ WineOh! started as an Ontario wine-tasting and Ontario cheese-pairing event in 2020 on the Alexander Henry.
“Since the inception of Breakwater Events, we have focused on sustainability,” he said. “We were the first major festival in Thunder Bay to move to 100 per cent digital tickets, we use glass rather than plastic cups, our food vendors must use biodegradable serving products and even our event wristbands are biodegradable. On top of that, our sample tokens are made from melted-down fishnets found in the oceans.”
Handel says they have grown as an event-planning company. Since 2020, they no longer use volunteers at their events and instead, employ 40 paid staff.
“In the end, it benefits the attendee with a more engaged experience from our servers,” he said. “Our staff are all very knowledgeable about the products they are serving and provide a friendly, welcoming experience.”
Burlinquette highlighted what’s in store for participants.
“We do have two food trucks. We’re not a food-heavy event and it’s more of a sampling event,” she said. “We also have a non-alcoholic tent this year with non-alcoholic wine and beer, non-alcoholic gin and tonic and also a non-alcoholic margarita. We’re trying to show folks that you don’t have to drink alcohol to come to this.”
People are also welcome to bring their well-trained pups to the site.
“People love their dogs and if you can go somewhere and bring your dog that’s a bonus as well,” she said.
This year, the event will feature a DJ who will play '90s and early 2000s-era music aimed at sparking a dance party.
"Unlike the Brew Ha! beer festival, the wine crowd is more chill. It’s a different vibe for sure with more of a relaxed chill vibe going on there,” she said.
For those who don’t want to worry about driving and parking or have consumed alcohol, each ticket purchased includes free transportation on Thunder Bay Transit.
The event will take place in two different sessions, 12-4 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Tickets, which are valid only for one session, are available online at www.breakwaterevents.ca. Participants must be aged 19 or older to enter the festival grounds.
The Chronicle-Journal/Local Journalism Initiative
