The Vines & Vittles Family Festival is returning to Rancho Bernardo’s Webb Park on Saturday, May 31.
The fundraiser will be held from 2 to 5 p.m., with food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, entertainment, artisan booths and shopping among the offerings.
“It is a true Rancho Bernardo social family event,” said chairman Alan Turner. “There is something for the very young to the not-so-young, designed so that you can walk through Webb Park while eating and drinking.”
The fifth annual event is designed to raise money for the various projects and philanthropic causes ed by the Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo. Turner said the Rotarians are hoping to raise close to last year’s amount of $40,000 and attract at least 500 attendees.
Tickets are $15 for food only or $20 for food and alcohol, with a small fee added to each ticket when purchased through May 30 at vinesandvittlesfestival.com.
At the event, the food ticket will remain at $15, while the food and alcohol ticket will be $30. Cash and credit will be accepted at the gate, Turner said. Children 12 and under are free.
Webb Park is at 11666 Avena Place.
As of May 9, the list of participants was still being finalized, but confirmed so far were seven wineries, two breweries and eight restaurants. Several are returnees from previous years, while others are newcomers.
Participating wineries include Barrel Riot, Bernardo Winery, Blue Honey Country Wines and Meads Co., Koi Zen Cellars, PRP Wine International, Rancho San Martín and The Vinho. Breweries include AleSmith Brewing Company and Local Roots Kombucha.
Providing food will be Duff’s Doggz, Dulce Vida Dessert Shop, Farm Fresh to You, Miss Shelly’s Barbecue, O’Brien’s Bakery, RoundTable Pizza, SidNY’s Delicatessen and Tony Pepperoni Pizzeria. While several will have employees on site to serve food, Rotarians will be serving food from some of the smaller businesses in a food court area that is new to this year’s event, Turner said.
The artisans and other vendors will be bringing an assortment of items, including pottery, artwork, jewelry and pet food, he said.
As for the entertainment, the American Made Band will be returning to the main stage to perform a variety of musical genres, Turner said. The group has won over 40 awards from the California Country Music Association, including Band of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year and Entertainer of the Year and its album, “Forty Miles From Lonely,” won the CCMA’s Album of the Year honor.
In the Kids Zone will be comic ventriloquist Joe Gandelman, a Rotary member who is well-known in the ventriloquist world and for over three decades has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada. Magic Mike Stilwell will perform the close-up magic tricks he has been presenting for over 50 years. There will also be face painting, a bubble artist and rock painting. For performance times, visit vinesandvittlesfestival.com.
Proceeds will go toward the Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo’s numerous endeavors at the local and international levels. Locally, these have included the Abraxas High School garden, Casa Residents for Education program, Friends of Vista Hill, Gently Hugged, Poway Symphony Orchestra, Saint Madeleine Sophie’s Center to help adults with intellectual disabilities, SAY San Diego to help local youths and adults, Wreaths Across America, the Ed Brown Center for Active Adults, Spirit of the Fourth and San Diego Oasis.
Student-focused projects have included providing dictionaries to third-graders at several Poway Unified elementary schools, about $20,000 in scholarships to graduating high school seniors, Rotary International’s 4-Way Speech Contest, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, the Rotary Model United Nations Program and a music contest for high school musicians.
International projects have included Project Mercy Baja to help impoverished families obtain homes in Mexico, water purification projects in Ecuador, providing feminine hygiene supplies in India and ing nursing students in Mexico. A recent project has been to migrant children’s education in the Imperial Valley.
