By Colleen Cockrell  
 
We had another successful year at this year's Seafood & Wine Festival. Our crowd was approximately 15,000 which is about average for us. The public is beginning to catch on to coming in as a group to avoid standing in the long lines. Next year, we will promote Friday and Sunday group bookings and definitely encourage people to come on Friday or Sunday to avoid the congestion on Saturday. Interested persons can contact the Newport Chamber if they have 15 or more of their friends that want to come to the festival as a group. Group spaces fill up quickly, so I urge people to start making plans early for next year's event, which will be on February 27, 28 & 29.  
 
The Amateur and Commercial Wine Competitions both broke records this year for the number of entries. The Amateur contest had over 180 entries and the Commercial had 125. The Best of Show for the Amateur Competition was awarded to James Heffner from Fairview, OR for his 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Best of Show for the Commercial contest was awarded to LaVelle Vineyards for their 2000 Pinot Noir (Vintage Select). LaVelle Vineyards is located in Elmira, OR.  
 
The Wine display area was relocated at the Festival making it easier for our guests to a get close- up view of the winning entries. Our guests seem to appreciate this move.  
 
 
 
For the most part, the vendors had a wonderful time and were very complimentary on the organization of the festival. Several of our longtime vendors had the best financial year ever. Seafood was more abundant this year and the crowds loved it. We had nearly 60 wine companies in the festival this year, most of them were from Oregon however, we welcome wine companies from all over the Northwest United States to participate.  
 
The Festival keeps getting better every year. In the not too distant future we may have an Events Center that will accommodate more people however, we don't have any plans to increase the number of vendors. The Seafood & Wine committee feels its better to focus on quality rather than quantity.  
 
Please visit our website at http://www.newportchamber.org to keep abreast of any new wine events. We appreciate your support of the festival!  
 
Colleen Cockrell, Events Manager  
The Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce