CONTEST OVER Win two tickets NOW to Asheville Wine & Food Festival this Sat.

We’ve got ANOTHER pair of General Admission tickets to the Asheville Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting on Sat. Aug 25 at the Civic Center/U.S. Cellular Center. The value of two tickets to this three-and-a-half-hour foodie extravaganza is $90.

As well as wine and fine food, there’s also author events, a mixology competition, and craft beer and spirits from Asheville’s  distilleries.

To win, just be the first to comment with the name of the founder and director of the festival. First correct commenter gets two tickets. Please use your correct first and last name in your comment, so we know whom to hold tickets for. Contest open only to people who haven’t won anything in an Ashvegas contest in the last month.

The Wine & Food Festival lets attendees sample over 300 wines, and enjoy chef-prepared food, local artisan treats, live music, food and treats for sale, cooking demos and more.

From the Wine & Food Festival 2012 press release:

WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL SHOWCASES ALL THAT MAKES ASHEVILLE A CULINARY HOTSPOT

Stroll, sip, savor, shop at Asheville Wine & Food Festival, August 23-25, in downtown Asheville,
named a Top 10 Food and Wine Destination

(AUGUST 7, 2012) Looking for a fun and delicious way to spend a Saturday afternoon? Head to the 4 th annual Asheville Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting on August 25, featuring a smorgasbord of more than 300 regional, national and international wines, creations prepared by Asheville’s celebrated chefs, samples of local artisan food products, plus live entertainment, cooking demonstrations and more. Come prepared to stroll, sip, savor and shop at what promises to be the largest culinary gathering Asheville has seen under one roof.

Named one of the best festivals of its kind in the country by the New York Post, this highly anticipated event has moved to downtown Asheville, inside the newly renovated U.S. Cellular Center. The event is 12 noon to 5 p.m. for VIP passes ($65); 1:30 to 5 p.m. for general admission ticketholders ($45). VIP tickets, available only in limited quantities, provide exclusive entry to the VIP Lounge where full pours of wine and delicious food samplings will be served in high style.

As if drinking wine all afternoon, noshing on local delicacies, and enjoying live entertainment weren’t enough, the festival also features a mixologist contest (who’s the most creative bartender in the area?), an amateur wine competition, countless opportunities to meet, greet, and learn from culinary experts, and plenty of tasty products to purchase and take home. (You can even get a jump on holiday gift-buying at the Blue Ridge Food Ventures Marketplace, featuring locally crafted specialty foods.)

A new feature of the festival is The Fashion and Food Runway: Under the Appalachian Moon. Beginning at 3 p.m., local
chefs and fashion designers present inspirations for evening wear and culinary regalia. Sandra Harvey Designs, featured
in numerous fashion-related style sections of The Los Angeles Times and in magazines that include Detour, Revolt in Style, Manic, and Flaunt, will be showcased in this up-close-and-personal fashion show along with designer Marylou Marsh of Spiritex with her elegant evening attire of organic and sustainable fibers, and milliner Simone Bernhard..

Not a wine drinker? Come anyway – there’s something for every taste. Sample craft brews that have earned Asheville its
status as Beer City USA. Or discover spirits from the region’s newest distilleries (this ain’t your grandpa’s moonshine).
There’ll even be non-alcoholic Buchi kombucha, made in Western North Carolina and enjoyed across the U.S.

Limo and taxi services will be close at hand. For information and tickets, visit .

Delicious decadence: Let’s get this party started!

Why wait until Saturday to enjoy the area’s best wine and food? The Asheville Wine & Food Festival Grand Tasting will be
preceded on Friday, August 24 by SWEET, an after-dinner fete featuring sips and samples of luscious desserts, sparkling
wines and specialty cocktails, held 7:30 to 10 p.m. at the Grove Arcade downtown. Tickets are only $35 per person for an evening of delicious decadence.

Tickets are also available to the WNC Chefs Challenge, revealing the best chef in the region. From an original slate of 14 of
the region’s most talented culinary leaders, the remaining two will battled it out on Aug. 23 for the finale, taking place at The Century Room on the Park, located above Pack’s Tavern in downtown Asheville, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $99 per person and the event is expected to be a sell-out, so early purchase is recommended at www.ashevillewineandfood.com.

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