Published November 18, 2008 07:22 pm - Ashtabula will hosts the annual Wine and Walleye Festival, every fourth weekend in August at Walnut Beach. The first festival will take place Aug. 22-23, 2009.
City to host Wine & Walleye Festival in August
By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com Star Beacon
ASHTABULA — It’s official.
The city will host an annual festival, known as the Wine and Walleye Festival, every fourth weekend in August at Walnut Beach. The first festival will take place Aug. 22-23, 2009.
City Council unanimously passed an ordinance establishing the festival at Monday night’s meeting.
“It’s very important to get this through,” Ward 4 Councilwoman Julie Lattimer said. “We are trying to get more events in the harbor to help (increase business for) the Bridge Street merchants.”
Vice President Betty Kist said it sounded like a good idea.
“It would bring a lot of business to Walnut Beach,” she said.
A taste of Ashtabula County’s wines and a fishing tournament will highlight the festival, said Alicia McFarland, the city’s economic development director.
“Let’s turn our blessings into cash,” McFarland said, who will be going into the community to get sponsors for the festival.
A study done last year shows 85 percent of tourists who come to Ashtabula County cited the county’s wineries as their primary reason for visiting.
City Manager Anthony Cantagallo’s love for Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, helped McFarland and Cantagallo come up with the idea of a wine and walleye festival. The city officials saw similarities between the two cities.
McFarland said both cities boast two major waterways, bed and breakfast establishments and recreation trails. The Niagara region in Ontario is renowned for its wines, particularly ice wine, and Ashtabula County is likewise emerging as a significant wine producer, with several area wineries also producing ice wines.
Niagara-on-the-Lake also has a walkway on the breakwater, a project local officials hope to have built at Walnut Beach to boost tourism.
McFarland said when she talks about a walleye tournament, coupled with a showcase of local wines, on Walnut Beach, people get excited about it. She believes it will be a great success.
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