23rd Annual Capital Food and Wine Festival: An appetizing
experience
March 15, 2012
LACEY,
WASHINGTON—The Capital Food and Wine Festival, an annual rite of
spring in the South Sound area, will take place noon to 9 p.m.,
Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event, presented by the Saint
Martin’s Alumni Association, will be held at the Hal and Inge
Marcus Pavilion and Norman Worthington Conference Center on the
Saint Martin’s University campus.
Now in its 23rd year, the popular festival is among the
largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest. This year will be
no exception. Forty-two wineries and 15 microbreweries will be
offering samples of their finest creations. Currently, 20
restaurants have signed on, says Evan Martin, festival
co-director and the association’s treasurer. Festival-goers will
find old favorites as well as restaurants that are brand-new to
the area and to the event, according to Martin. Live
entertainment will be featured throughout the day.
What else is new? An art raffle will offer attendees the
opportunity to take home an original mixed-media,
metal-leaf-on-wood-panel piece by local artist Tom Anderson,
featuring his signature lotus design, valued at $3,000. Art
raffle tickets can be purchased for $15. The festival is also
introducing pre-purchased $15 VIP tickets, which allows ticket
holders to enter Marcus Pavilion in a separate door with limited
to no wait times.
“The event will benefit scholarship for the University’s
students, but we’ll also be using proceeds for projects to help
the Greater Olympia area,” Martin says. “When people participate
in the festival, they’ll be providing support for their
community.”
To increase parking options, a shuttle service will operate
from an area near Chicago Title Insurance Co. at South Sound
Center. As in past years, safe-ride and taxi services are
available to festival-goers.
Sandra Quebedeaux, festival co-director and the association’s
secretary, says the University is an active partner in the
festival. Saint Martin’s Campus Ministry will be selling bottled
water to raise money for community service projects and its
upcoming mission trip; the Office of Alumni Relations will
operate an information booth for the annual Saint Martin’s
University Gala in November; and Saint Martin’s Athletics will
be providing some of the 700 volunteers needed the day of the
event.
Primary sponsors for the 2012 Capital Food and Wine Festival
include O’Blarney’s Irish Pub, Evergreen Direct Credit Union,
Red Wind Casino, TwinStar Credit Union, Virgil Adams Real Estate
Inc., Western Meats, Heritage Bank, Albertsons, Hanson Subaru,
Obee Credit Union, Century Link Frost & Company, P.S., and
Discovery Media Productions, Inc.
“We depend on our sponsors and our volunteers for a
successful event, and we still need some volunteers for
three-hour shifts,” Quebedeaux says. People interested in
volunteering can learn more and sign up on the festival website,
www.capitalfoodandwinefestival.com.
Capital Food and Wine Festival tickets are available for
purchase through the
festival
website and at the following locations: Ralph’s Thriftway,
Bayview Thriftway, TwinStar Credit Union and the University’s
Marcus Pavilion office. VIP tickets can be pre-purchased for $15
through March 28; general admission tickets can be purchased at
the door the day of the event for $20. The price includes
admission and a choice of a festival wine glass or ale glass at
the door.
For more information, please contact Tiffany Stewart,
assistant director of alumni relations, at 360-438-4557 or
tstewart@stmartin.edu.
Saint Martin’s University is an independent four-year,
coeducational university located on a 380-acre wooded campus in
Lacey, Washington. Established in 1895 by the Catholic Order of
Saint Benedict, the University is one of 14 Benedictine colleges
and universities in the United States and Canada, and the only
one west of the Rocky Mountains. Saint Martin’s University
prepares students for successful lives through its 21 majors and
six graduate programs spanning the liberal arts, business,
education and engineering. Saint Martin’s welcomes 1,250
students from many ethnic and religious backgrounds to its main
campus, and 650 more to its extension campuses located at Joint
Base Lewis-McChord, Everett College, Centralia College and
Tacoma Community College. Visit the Saint Martin’s University
website at www.stmartin.edu.
For additional information:
Tiffany Stewart
Assistant director of alumni relations
Saint Martin’s University
360-438-4557
tstewart@stmartin.edu
Sarah Holdener
Director of community relations and event management
Office of Marketing and Communications
Saint Martin’s University
360-412-6140
sholdener@stmartin.edu