St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival

The 2017 St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival is a weekend celebration with something for everyone. Co-presented by Wells Fargo and St. Augustine Shipyard, the festival returns for its sixth year on Oct. 20-22, 2017, (rescheduled due to Hurricane Irma) and features the best food, wine and live music in St. Augustine.

The festival schedule of events includes the Cava Reception, Dinner and Fireworks on Friday, Oct. 20. Get dressed up and bring your friends for a fancy evening of bubbly, fun, food, live music, dancing and fireworks. Saturday, Oct. 21, it’s a casual Spanish pig roast picnic (Cochinillo Asado) with beer, wine and Spanish cocktails followed by America’s only Spanish wine fight (Batalla de Vino). On Sunday, Oct. 22, a huge wine event (the original Grand Tasting) features more than 100 different Spanish wines.

100% of ticket sales benefit this year’s local charities – K-9s United, The St. Augustine Record Empty Stocking Fund and tag! Children’s Museum of St. Augustine.

All the events will take place at the new St. Augustine Shipyard on Dockside Drive. Enjoy breathtaking views of the San Sebastian River with a backdrop of historic downtown St. Augustine. It’s the perfect spot for a fancy party, a picnic, a wine fight and a huge wine tasting. Pick a day or come all three days. It’s a guaranteed good time for three great causes.

Cava Reception and Dinner
The festival kicks off on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. with the Cava Reception and Dinner. Each course of this four-course dinner is paired with a Spanish wine. The evening concludes with a fireworks display over the San Sebastian River. The ticket cost is $125.

Spanish Pig Roast
On Oct. 21, the Spanish Pig Roast (Cochinillo Asado) begins at 5 p.m. At this picnic, suckling pigs pit roasted in the Spanish tradition are served with fine Spanish wine and beer. Also, K-9s United will present a demonstration, and guests will have the opportunity to meet local law enforcement officers and their K-9s. The ticket cost is $65.

Team and Grand Wine Fight
Also on Oct. 21, the Wine Fight (Batalla de Vino) begins at 6:30 p.m. with a team competition where each team’s goal is to protect the king or queen. Each team of five (men and/or women 21+ years old) will try to get other teams’ kings and queens as red with wine as possible while protecting its royalty. The team with the whitest-clothed king or queen at the end of the competition wins. The cost to participate in the Team Wine Fight is $100 (team of five people).

Following the Team Wine Fight is the Grand Wine Fight where participants dressed in white decorate friends and strangers with red wine. If you can’t field a team for the Team Wine Fight, then just come and have fun squirting wine. The Grand Wine Fight begins at 6:45 p.m. The cost to participate in the Grand Wine Fight is $10.

Grand Tasting
The festival concludes on Oct. 22 with the Grand Tasting from 2-5 p.m. More than 100 Spanish wines are available to sample accompanied by Spanish-inspired hors d’oeuvres. The ticket cost is $75.

Tickets are available to purchase through the website at www.spanishwinefestival.com.

About the St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival
The St. Augustine Spanish Wine Festival is an exciting way to acknowledge and honor the community. Since the festival began in 2012, $325,000 has been donated to local charities. This year’s charities include K-9s United, www.k9sunited.org, tag! Children’s Museum of St. Augustine, www.tagmuseum.org, and The St. Augustine Record Empty Stocking Fund, www.staugustine.com/emptystockingfund. The festival’s mission is to connect St. Augustine to our city’s Spanish history through a series of special events that feature Spanish wine, cuisine and culture. The festival serves to raise money for local charities, provide memorable experiences for visitors, foster international economic development, and enrich the quality of life in our community.