The Vancouver International Wine Festival will return in 2022, with some changes

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Dates were set, the venue was reserved, but then the pandemic prompted a change in plans for the Vancouver International Wine Festival organizers – again.

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“We had our usual late February / early March dates booked for 2022, but the Delta variant arrived just at the time we would have started the winery selection process,” explains Harry Hertscheg, Executive Director of the International Wine Festival. from Vancouver. “In a normal festival cycle, we would have announced the participating wineries at the end of September, so the extra time allows us to plan a more comprehensive, safe and ultimately successful festival.”

Moving forward in planning for next year’s festival has allowed an optimistic outlook for the organizing team, which was affected by the cancellation and restructuring of events for 2021.

“We were unable to put on a large-scale festival in February 2021, which has had a significant impact on our financial situation,” says Hertscheg. “We had developed plans for some smaller face-to-face seminars in late fall 2020, which had to be postponed when additional restrictions were introduced. We were able to raise some much-needed reset funds through our online bacchanalia auction, through which we also developed new partnerships, including a new key sponsor, National Bank Private Banking 1859.

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“However, the staff was suspended for almost a year and has only just been returned to the plan for 2022.”

But, if all goes according to plan in 2022, the annual international wine event will return for its 43rd year from May 16-22.

“We were relieved when the May dates became available at the Vancouver Convention Center,” Hertscheg says of the change. “A change to the May dates also opens up the possibility of outdoor events, fewer travel restrictions and a higher level of comfort to attend events for both exhibitors and the general public.”

When planning an event the size of the wine festival, which attracted approximately 25,000 attendees to the 2020 festival and which routinely sees more than 162 wineries from 15 countries traveling to the city to participate in the event, convenience is key.

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“We believe this change in dates will give our customers more time to feel safe in crowds or at events, and that the desire to experience events in person again will outweigh any doubts,” says Hertscheg. “We are planning fewer events and less capacity at each event to allow for greater social distancing; As a result, there will be fewer tickets on sale, so we are still expecting tickets to sell out for most of the events. “

While there will undoubtedly be some changes to next year’s event, Hertscheg assures festival goers that there will be a list of events similar to years past.

“We expect to have a similar mix of programming in 2022, albeit with less capacity for some of our larger tasting events,” says Hertscheg.

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One thing notably missing from the 2022 planning, however, is the announcement of a thematic region: 2020, the festival’s final year before the global pandemic, centered on France with a focus on global rosés, which are generally share in advance with the dates of the wine festival.

“We have chosen not to present a thematic region for the 2022 festival, and recognizing that there may still be restrictions and uncertainty around travel, we will not require the attendance of international directors,” explains Hertscheg. “Also, while event capacity is returning to normal and movement between tables is now allowed in restaurants, we still don’t know what the implications are for grazing, mixing and tasting events.”

With this in mind, the Bacchanalia Gala and Vintners Brunch will remain off the table for the 2022 event. Festival organizers expect a “full return” to programming in 2023.

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