How about a weekend of sipping wine by the river on a spring day?
The annual Wine on the Fox festival is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday at Hudson Crossing Park in Owego.
The popular event marks the unofficial start of the summer festival season, Village of Oswego spokesperson Michele Brown said.
The festival is free to attend; the cost to sample wine is $15 per day or $25 for a two-day pass. Included in the ticket price is a souvenir wineglass, wristband and five tasting tickets. (A two-day pass gets you 10 tickets.) Tastings consist of one ounce of wine. Additional tastings may be purchases for $1 apiece. Fest-goers can also buy wine by the glass or bottle.
There will be 15 wineries represented at the fest, and each bring quite a few varieties of wine, Brown said. Wineries include August Hill Winery, Berryville Vineyards, Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurants, Fox Creek Vineyards, Fox Valley Winery, Galena Cellars, Illinois River Winery, Kikapoo Creek Winery, Lavender Crest Winery, Massbach Ridge Winery, Prairie State Winery, Vahling Vineyards, Village Vintner Winery and Waterman Winery and Vineyard.
While there will be no beer or other alcohol sold, water and soda will be available from the food vendors. Brown said food vendors include The Grumpy Gaucho with beef empanadas; Genoa Concessions with a wide variety of food, such as nachos, chicken sandwiches and pizza; and Page’s Popcorn.
While drinking wine and eating empanadas, people can listen to a variety of live music.
“Our entertainment schedule is pretty great,” she said.
On Saturday, the Thompson Duo performs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by the Thirsty Boots Band from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday’s headliner is Junkyard Groove from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
On Sunday, look for music from County Line Brothers from noon to 2 p.m., Lincoln Don’t Lie from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and Red Woody from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
“It is family friendly,” she said. “Hudson Crossing Park does have a fantastic park on the river and families are welcome to attend. They are also welcome to bring picnic baskets if they like and just come out and listen to the music.”
Wine on the Fox is a chance for people to discover more about their community, she said.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our own Fox Valley Winery, as well as local wineries in Illinois,” she said. “I think people are starting to realize that Illinois wineries are amazing and there are so many in our community and our area. We just really want to highlight what’s happening locally. I think when we started this event back in ’08, people didn’t realize there were so many wineries in Illinois. Now they are finding out they are everywhere and they are fantastic. But we have them all in one spot for you, so you don’t have to travel.”
The event is rain or shine and you must have identification if you want to drink wine.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
‘Wine on the Fox’
When: May 6-7
Where: Hudson Crossing Park, 65 N. Harrison St., Oswego
Tickets: Free-$15
Information: 630-554-3618; www.wineonthefox.com
