How to go
What: Sharonville Chamber of Commerce Presents: Wine, Art, Beer and Cigar Festival
Where: Holiday Inn Cincinnati North, 3855 Hauck Road, Cincinnati
When: 7 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday; VIP hour is 6 to 7 p.m.
Cost: $25 per person (includes 10 beverage tickets); VIP admission: $50 per person (includes 10 beverage tickets and access to selected beers, wines and special guests Chip Emmerich of Burnet Ridge Winery and the Christian Moerlein brewmaster); Designated Driver or non-drinker admission: $10 per person; Overnight Package: $130 for two guests (includes regular admission and 10 drink tickets); VIP Overnight Package: $170 for two guests (includes VIP Hour and regular admission with 10 drink tickets); Overnight Group Packages available.
Tickets: (513)554-1722; www.sharonvillechamberwabc.com.
Note: Do not call the Holiday Inn Cincinnati North to make reservations.
SHARONVILLE — There are a multitude of events featuring wine and art or beer and cigars, but a festival this weekend in Sharonville will combine all of the above for the first time ever in the Cincinnati area.
The Wine, Art, Beer and Cigar Festival, hosted by the Sharonville Chamber of Commerce at the Holiday Inn Cincinnati North hotel, will display some of the region’s best brews, vino, art and cigars all under one roof on Saturday.
“I believe it’s the first time that it’s ever been done around here,” said Rich Arnold, president of the Sharonville Chamber of Commerce, of the festival’s diverse assortment of wares. “The WABC event is brand new and unique for this area, and has something for everyone who attends.”
The festival features 47 craft beers and 27 wines for sampling from throughout the United States and the world, in addition to custom cigar rolling demonstrations, local art and food. Among the beer and wines available will be brews from Cincinnati mainstay Christian Moerlein and wine from the Burnet Ridge Winery located in the Cincinnati suburb of North College Hill.
Adding even more local flavor to the event is Strauss Tobacco, a Cincinnati cigar shop that will have cigars for sale during the event. A tent will be erected outside the hotel in order for cigar aficionados to partake of their purchases, Arnold said.
A variety of ticket packages available for the festival, ranging from regular admission to VIP packages — which will feature a meet-and-greet with the brewmaster from Christian Moerlein and Burnet Ridge Winery owner Chip Emmerich — and overnight packages in conjunction with the hotel, Arnold said.
“Coupling this type of an evening with the option to spend the night at the Holiday Inn in a special package makes this appealing to all ages and tri-state residents,” Arnold said.
The idea for the WABC festival, he said, was spurred by the success other communities have had with events combining either wine and art or beer and cigars.
“So we started looking at doing an event that included everything,” he said. “We’ve got the whole spectrum.”
The festival has generated so much interest it has forced Arnold to turn away vendors due to the event center being full at the Holiday Inn.
“It’s beyond my expectations,” Arnold said of the response. “It’s generated so much excitement.”
Though spearheaded by Arnold and the Sharonville Chamber of Commerce, the festival is more than just an event for the Sharonville area, he said.
“This is not a Sharonville event,” Arnold said. “This is a tri-state event.”
An event, Arnold promises, that will satisfy patrons.
“It’s just a fun, easy evening and (patrons) get to do something that you normally don’t get to do,” Arnold said. “It’s going to be one heck of an evening.”
A portion of the proceeds from the festival will benefit the Sharonville Fine Arts Center and the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Contact this writer at spragoo1977@yahoo.com.
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