The show organizers report:

Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival Celebrates an Impressive Inaugural Year Success

(GRAND RAPIDS, Mich) – Nearly four years in the making, the Grand Rapids Convention & Arena Authority and ShowSpan Inc., exceeded all expectations with the inaugural Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival, held this past weekend in the elegance of the 40,000-square-foot Steelcase Ballroom at DeVos Place.

“We had been hoping for 6000-8000 people and will be very near the top end of that,” said Henri Boucher, Show Producer. “Most importantly, a great time was had by all and the exhibitors of every kind reported extremely great contacts with the public.”

Featuring as many as 600 wines, beers and spirits from more than 100 wineries, breweries and distilleries, the event also offered a full menu of workshops and seminars, featured restaurants, food pairings (all of which “sold out” all weekend) and retailers offering culinary based goods and services.

“It was exiting to see this festival take shape over the past several months and we are very happy with how it all came to fruition,” said Richard MacKeigan, SMG Regional General Manager and Executive Director of Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority. “We are pleased we took the initiative to get this event going and grateful for our relationship with ShowSpan. Grand Rapids is positioning itself as a premier destination in Michigan, as well as the Midwest, for celebrating the culture of wine and food.”

“It was exiting to see this festival take shape over the past several months and we couldn’t be happier with how it all came to fruition,” said Rich MacKeigan, SMG Regional General Manager and Executive Director of Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority. “

Louis Benton, one of a half dozen participating restaurants, said they experienced an increase in their walk-in business at the restaurant on both Friday and Saturday nights – with many individuals coming directly from the wine festival. Cygnus 27, inside the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, reported similar traffic patterns. Additionally, the Amway attributed about 200 overnights directly to the festival.

“The event was amazing,” says Karen Waldron from Johnny Entertainment, who attended the event as a general consumer. “From everything I am hearing, from both vendors and attendees, you have a homerun. I spoke with people who came from East Lansing, Lowell, Mt. Pleasant and they will definitely be back next year to be a part of the event. The vendors also had a very positive outlook as to the event and everyone wants to be a part of this annual sojourn.”

Comments from participants and attendees include:

* Allow me to congratulate you on a job “well done!” You were right, they came — it was an amazing success!
Joe Borrello, Taster’s Guild International

* Fabulous – a great inaugural year! Thanks for all your hard work to bring this event to a reality!
Linda Jones, Michigan Grape & Wine Industry Council

* I personally will attest it was one of the best events I’ve ever been a part of!
Kenny Peterson, Tabor Hill Winery

* Congratulations for what surely qualifies as a successful event…a gam of a time for all!
Bill Autenreith, Chateau Chantal Winery

* On behalf of all your friends at St. Julian I want to congratulate and commend everyone for the most fantastic food and wine show this past weekend. Very professional and very well attended.
Dave Braganini, St. Julian Wine Company, Inc.

* Excellent event. Better organized than I expected for a first time event.
Larry Mawby, L. Mawby Vineyards

* Excellent job! It was very important for us to be able to bring our individual brands to this show and the collective market awareness for Michigan wines specifically was incredible.
Spencer Stegenga, Bowers Harbor Vineyards

* Good show – very professional staff. I liked the mix of paid and free food and really liked the restaurant stations.
Don Coe, Black Star Farms

* Great job to all who work so hard to pull off this event. I’m ready for another.
Bob Bonga, Cascade Winery

* Like many other suppliers, I was a bit skeptical when I first heard of it. We were all proven wrong! Bang for the consumer buck, I think it was a better event than Cincinnati Wine Festival.
Rhonda Riebow, Chateau Grand Traverse

* I was very pleased with the event, everything seemed to run smoothly and the ShowSpan/DeVos employees are great to work with.
Aaron Harr, Fenn Valley Vineyards

* Thank you so much for the opportunity at the Grand Rapids Wine & Food Festival. You work with a great group of people and we were very impressed with the outcome.
Chef Eric Villegas, Fork in the Road

* I think this show is a keeper. I was very pleased with the outcome of the attendance and layout.

Adriano Moscatelli, Tre Cugini

* Great event. Very well run. Looking forward to next year.
Brien Fox, Henry A. Fox Distributors

* Over the years, I have attended several wine events and I must tell you this one TOPS THEM All. The attendance blew me away!! I thought Friday night was going to be the busy one but Saturday seemed just as busy. I’m looking forward to participating in next year’s event.
Scott McCain, District Manager – Michigan, Centerra Wine Company

* While it is fresh in my mind…it was an Excellent Event! There is nothing like it in West Michigan that I know of. Cecil Robbins II, Paw Paw Wine Distributors

* Thank you for the tickets. My husband and I attended on Sunday. We both had a wonderful time tasted many different wines and sampled a wide variety of the food offered as well. The Lamb Ragout over polenta was a stand out. Once again thank you and AbsoluteMichigan.com for the tickets.
Gloria H Emmons

The Grand Rapids International Wine & Food Festival was presented by Harvey Lexus and was co-produced by Grand Rapids Convention and Arena Authority and ShowSpan Inc. Founded in 1945, ShowSpan – a John D. Loeks, Company – has grown to be one of the largest producers of consumer shows in the Midwest, with 17 shows on their annual schedule.