Blacksburg Fork and Cork: Top 8 Reasons to Attend

The Fork and Cork is an annual wine and food festival in Blacksburg, Virginia, hosted by the Blacksburg Partnership. Proceeds from the festival go towards helping to improve the quality of life in Blacksburg. Here are the top 8 reasons to attend this fantastic event.

1.) Experience local wineries. If you're a wine lover, chances are you already have several favorites that tend to grace your table and make frequent appearances as your hostess gifts. Attending a wine festival where Virginia wineries display their wines will allow you to expand your horizons. If you're a wine newbie, you can use a wine festival to start to build a list of wines you like.

2.) Learn. Cooking performances and winemaking demonstrations give the Fork and Cork attendee ample chances to learn new things. In addition, fully experiencing all that wine has to offer is an ancient and nuanced skill, and something that's difficult to pick up unless you have someone to show you the way.

3.) Fill your event calendar. Once you've found a few wineries that suit your tastes, you can plan to visit those wineries individually in the future. Many host excellent events such as tastings, food pairings, and movie nights. Some of these events are low- or no-cost, great for fitting even the tightest of budgets. Several Virginia wineries are part of "wine trails," allowing you to fill an afternoon with wine tastings across the beautiful Virginia countryside.

4.) Sample local cuisines. It's always a bit of a risk to try a new restaurant. Sampling food from a restaurant at the many food booths at the Blacksburg Fork and Cork lets you experience some of the flavor without all of the commitment. And if you're interested in having a full meal later, many restaurants are located within the festival grounds.

5.) Indulge freely. If ever there is a time to indulge, the Fork and Cork wine festival is it. With a host of alternate transportation options, this event is one of the safest wine festivals you can imagine. Don't worry about leaving one of your friends out of the wine tasting; simply take the bus, or schedule a taxi or Hooptie Ride.

6.) Get some gifts. Local artists flock to the Blacksburg Fork and Cork to display and sell their wares. You can find anything among the stalls, from jewelry to paintings to food gifts.

7.) Dance the day away. Throughout the day, the Fork and Cork festival provides free live entertainment by local bands. You won't ever have to worry about dancing alone in the midst of this high-spirited crowd!

8.) Help your community. The Blacksburg Partnership is an excellent organization that gives money back to the community to support projects such as downtown improvements (benches, playgrounds, pavers), the excellent Blacksburg Farmer's Market, loans for building improvement and downtown redevelopment, and more.

For more information about the Blacksburg Fork and Cork, check out Fork and Cork: Blacksburg, Virginia Wine and Food Festival.

The official Blacksburg Fork and Cork website is http://www.blacksburgpartnership.org/fork/.