‘Closing this chapter.’ 40+ year Tri-Cities wine event calls it quits
The annual Tri-Cities Wine Festival is permanently ending its run after more than 40 years.
The Pacific Northwest festival annually attracted more than 1,000 attendees and featured wineries from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, and also previously from British Columbia.
“Closing this chapter of the wine society’s history was a difficult decision for its board of directors,” Ted Davis, president of the Tri-Cities Wine Society, said in Monday’s announcement.
He said the decision came with “a sense of pride and feelings of accomplishment” in the role the event played in showcasing Northwest wines.
The nonprofit society organized the event for over 30 years.
Last year’s festival would have been the 42nd year but was canceled because of the COVID-19 restrictions on large gatherings.
For many years the event was the only way many people could sample Northwest wines because there were so few tasting rooms and wine events, Davis said.
The festival became the longest, continuously judged wine festival in the Northwest.
It was started in 1979 by Coke Roth, a Tri-Cities attorney and past president of the Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau — now Visit Tri-Cities — and his friend, Maury Balcom.
It began as a fundraiser to buy a copier for the bureau, and as a way to promote the region’s wines and the Tri-Cities as a tourist destination.
Ten years later, the Tri-Cities Wine Society took over hosting the event.
Davis thanked the wineries and businesses that supported the event and its silent auction which paid for scholarships for students studying viticulture and enology. He also thanked the hundreds of volunteers over the years.
“As the wine industry grew, so did the festival. It became a year-round effort for a small core of volunteers to ensure its success,” he said.
The Tri-Cities Wine Society plans to continue offering other events now that COVID restrictions have eased.
“We are working toward getting back to monthly events and excited to be doing so, but we are taking it step by step,” he said.
For more information, visit its website, www.tricitieswinesociety.com.
Riverfest canceled
The Pasco Chamber of Commerce announced Monday it will cancel the 2021 RiverFest Celebration Festival at Columbia Park scheduled for Oct. 9.
“It is very unfortunate that for the 2nd year in a row we have to cancel this fun celebration, and we had great new exhibitors slated for this year,” said Colin Hastings, executive director of the Pasco chamber. “We are excited to carry over this momentum with all the planning this year into 2022.”
RiverFest is a community celebration and hands-on education of the Columbia River system, highlighting the benefits to the Northwest including to agriculture, carbon free energy, transportation, commerce and recreation.
Nearly 4,500 attended the 2019 RiverFest event.
Because of the pandemic last year, the chamber and regional coalition produced the documentary, “Our Rivers, Our Life.”