{"id":1319063,"date":"2020-03-24T18:15:27","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T00:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=995004"},"modified":"2020-03-24T18:15:27","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T00:15:27","slug":"aspen-food-wine-classic-canceled-due-to-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/aspen-food-wine-classic-canceled-due-to-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"Aspen Food & Wine Classic canceled due to coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Pouring and tasting wine at a past Aspen Food & Wine Classic.<\/strong>
Aspen Times file<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The coronavirus\u2019 sweeping impacts to Aspen have included the cancellation of the rest of the ski season, and now another favorite local past-time has been nixed \u2014 this summer\u2019s Food & Wine Classic. <\/p>\n

Organizers of the decadently festive event, which signals the start to the summer tourism season, announced Monday they were cancelling it because of health concerns and uncertainties surrounding COVID-19. This year\u2019s Food & Wine was scheduled for June 19-21.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made this decision out of concern for the safety of our community and the world beyond it,\u201d Food & Wine Editor in Chief Hunter Lewis said in an announcement. <\/p>\n

Those who have tickets, which go for thousands of dollars, can get full refunds by calling 877-900-WINE by May 15, or their tickets will be transferred to the Food & Wine Classic scheduled June 2021 in Aspen.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Aspen\u2019s high-profile marquee events, Food & Wine stands alongside the Aspen Music Festival, the JAS Labor Day Experience, Aspen Ideas Festival and Winter X Games. <\/p>\n

With sundresses and lanyards de rigeur, Food & Wine has held special significance to Aspen for 37 years, growing to an event that last year featured 80 cooking demonstrations, events and seminars; as well as more than 2,000 brands of wine, spirits and food for consumption. The event has drawn the likes of such culinary celebrities as Giada De Laurentiis, Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay and others. <\/p>\n

All of that provides a recipe for raising Aspen\u2019s profile, while restaurants and hotels pencil in Food & Wine as one of their busiest times of the year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe love kicking off the summer with Food & Wine,\u201d said Mayor Torre. \u201cIt\u2019s been part of our community for so many years and it\u2019s a great opportunity to start our summer. It will be sorely missed coming out of the winter. I\u2019m saddened it\u2019s not going to be here, but under these circumstances, I understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city and the Aspen Chamber Resort Association help produce the event.<\/p>\n

ACRA President Debbie Braun said the decision to cancel Food & Wine rested with the New York-based publication. The event had a $3 million economic impact on Aspen over the course of three days a decade ago, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very supportive of Food and Wine\u2019s decision,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were in talks about this last week, all of us working to see if there were was a way we could postpone the event and that\u2019s just not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the impacts of COVID-19 remaining to be seen, Braun it would be difficult to disagree with Food & Wine\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are saddened to hear the news, but the health of the community and visitors is of paramount importance,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Braun said Food & Wine\u2019s cancellation will have \u201ca huge impact on businesses and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from the international talent the event attracts, it\u2019s also a chance for local restaurants and other purveyors of alcohol and food to shine. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tremendous event that we love participating in,\u201d said Bill Doherty, general manager of Kenichi, an Asian restaurant. \u201cFor the last four or five years we\u2019ve been in the tent at least a couple of times, and we\u2019ve taken part in the local vendor program, which has been awesome for us to get that kind of exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Torre and Braun, Doherty said he understands Food & Wine\u2019s decision. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think what we\u2019re all seeing is unprecedented,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of the word keeps coming to mind. Nobody\u2019s ever seen anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry Butler, who owns and operates the boutique Residence Hotel on Galena Street downtown, said Food & Wine\u2019s cancellation could cripple her business. <\/p>\n

\u201cI depend on Food & Wine,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s my anchor for the summer. I\u2019m so tiny that Food & Wine can make or break me, and this really upsets me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Butler, who described herself as a \u201ccheerleader for Aspen,\u201d said she is questioning the thought-process behind all of the closures, shutdowns and executive orders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt bothers me so much how people can change our lives,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to be cavalier, stupid or naive, but at the same time, I don\u2019t want us to ruin our country over this. I really feel we can deal with this as it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Food & Wine\u2019s announcement, Bob Morris, who runs Aspen Mountain Lodge, said he won\u2019t open the Main Street property until July 1. <\/p>\n

\u201cJune is gone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s history, it\u2019s toast.\u201d<\/p>\n

But at least, Morris said, Aspen\u2019s notorious summer gridlock on Main Street won\u2019t be an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last argument any of us are going to have for the next three months is how to solve the congestion through the S-curves,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

rcarroll@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pouring and tasting wine at a past Aspen Food & Wine Classic.Aspen Times file The coronavirus\u2019 sweeping impacts to Aspen have included the cancellation of the rest of the ski season, and now another favorite local past-time has been nixed \u2014 this summer\u2019s Food & Wine Classic.  Organizers of the decadently festive event, which signals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-02 18:16:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}