Due to an unprecedented high turnout at Taste of Georgetown on Saturday Oct. 9th, many of the event’s restaurants were forced to turn eager guests away, as food ran out only halfway through the day.
“There was supposed to be a wine festival in Alexandria that was cancelled earlier in the week, and when that happened the media and other public information sources focused their attention to the Taste of Georgetown event, which I’m sure impacted the number of attendees,” said Jennifer Motruk Loy, director of marketing and public relations for Founding Farmers and Farmers & Fishers.
Wisconsin Avenue packed itself full with thousands of locals and visitors for the 17th annual community event. While lines stretched up to 50 people in length, the 30 Georgetown restaurants served up a taste of their finest cuisine, with benefits going to Georgetown Ministry Center’s services that aid the homeless.
Sponsor of the event, Georgetown Business Improvement District (GBID), received an 80 percent increase in advance ticket sales compared to last year and were able to inform participating vendors to expect a higher attendance rate and to adjust their food allotment accordingly.
In the first year of St. Germain and Farmers & Fishers’ partnership together, their debut in the Wine and Spirits pavilion was a success as the unveiling of a white sangria spritzer was cut short at 2 p.m. when the supplies for 350 drinks ran out.
The same thing happened over at Georgetown Cupcake, who in its third year at the tasting event, set aside 2,500 premade cupcakes to be used just at their booth.
“We brought double the amount of cupcakes that we brought last year… and would keep replenishing our booth with cupcakes from the shop as we were running low,” said Sophie LaMontagne and Katherine Kallinis of Georgetown Cupcake.
The only visible improvement that could be made in the Taste of Georgetown became evident when booths selling water ran out halfway through the day. Attendees began leaving the festivities on Wisconsin Ave to buy water at local cafés on M Street.
“It was frustrating to have parents approach me and ask where they could buy water and soft drinks for their children, and be unable to provide them with an answer. There should have been other drinks for purchase since kids can’t drink wine,” said Rebekah Richards, a volunteer at the event.
