Dorian Anderson hopes more people will be able to enjoy Niagara Grape and Wine Festival’s signature events during a “supersized” weekend, while also getting enhanced safety. “There are certainly a lot of changes this year,” said Anderson, the festival’s executive director. Although festival activities are happening throughout September, such as winery and vineyard tours, Anderson said many of the signature events are now scheduled for the last weekend of the month.
“We decided last year after doing a lot of research and looking into everything that spreading the festival out over two weekends wasn’t really achieving what we wanted to achieve,” Anderson said. After reviewing attendance records, she said, organizers found 75 per cent of people only visited the festival during the weekend of the Grande Parade. “We thought, if that’s the case, then sort of repeating the same programming for two weeks — which is essentially what we were doing — wasn’t the best way to celebrate,” Anderson said.
“We’re moving all the (festival) favourites into a single weekend.” She said it also serves as more of a “homecoming” for former St. Catharines residents who may be returning for the festival.
“The supersizing of (events at) Montebello Park is something I’m excited about,” Anderson said. Park events start Thursday, Sept. 26, with a new addition to the festival — the Rock the Park concert, which will feature Crash Test Dummies and Kim Mitchell.
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