By Jennifer Dart

While there’s a lot going on in May in Tofino including Feast! Tofino-Ucluelet and the Shorebird Festival, there’s an annual event in early June that is always one to look forward to.

The Tofino Food and Wine Festival has been ongoing since 2003. Last year some 700 people wandered around the Tofino Botanical Gardens sampling British Columbia wine and food from local restaurants and Vancouver Island food purveyors during the festival’s main event, Grazing in the Gardens.

Festival coordinator Kira Rogers and her partner Eli Blake conceived of the festival while they both worked at the former Café Pamplona, which used to be housed in what is now Darwin’s Café in the gardens. This event has grown from a small, local festival to a weekend full of events and a reason to visit Tofino in June.

This year’s festival starts Thursday, June 2 and runs until Sunday, June 5.

The festival supports several local non-profit societies and initiatives, including the Tofino Botanical Garden Society, the Community Children’s Centre, the Lighthouse Trail, and the Multi-Use Path.

It’s all about showcasing the culinary talents of local chefs and the bounty of fresh ingredients from the Island, as well as the wines of British Columbia. Last year some 22 restaurants and specialty food suppliers offered samples at Grazing, as did 48 wineries four breweries, and one ciderhouse.

“It’s the best of Tofino,” said Tourism Tofino executive director Sharon Lingenfelter at last year’s main event. “Tofino comes out – the restaurants come out, the wineries come out, the breweries come out – in support of what Tofino is all about.”

This year the events surrounding the festival – including one hosted by the Shore – kick off Thursday, June 2.

The Epicurean Showcase at Long Beach Lodge Resort is an evening of canapés and wine. For more information, visit Long Beach Lodge.

On Friday, Black Rock Oceanfront Resort is hosting a Rainforest Harvest Luncheon at 1pm.

Also on Friday are two winemakers dinners. The Wickaninnish Inn’s Chef Nick Nutting is pairing up with Cedar Creek Winery, and Shelter Restaurant is hosting Alderlea Winery of Duncan.

Kira and Eli will be on hand at Darwin’s Café to welcome one and all to the 9th annual Food and Wine Festival with Bienvenue with BC Bubbles, an evening of the best BC has to offer in sparkling wine and cider.

The main event is Saturday from 1-4pm at the gardens. Then join us at the Shore for Sips and Seafood, starting at 6pm (watch the blog for more details about this event).

The Schooner Restaurant hosts an annual Sunset Barbecue after the festival, starting at 7pm.

Finally, on Sunday cookbook author and chef Caren McSherry will be hosting an event called “In a Pinch – effortless cooking with Caren McSherry.”

Details of all these events can be found on the Food and Wine Festival’s website. There is also a link to purchase online tickets to Grazing in the Gardens.

In advance of the festival, Shelter Restaurant is hosting a grape stomping event on Saturday, May 14. The best stomper will receive two tickets to Grazing in the Gardens.

Follow all the festival news on Twitter and Facebook , or visit the Tofino Food and Wine Festival blog.

Photo Credits: Tofino Food and Wine Festival

Tags: BC wineries, Sips and Seafood, The Shore, Tofino, Tofino cuisine, Tofino Food and Wine Festival, Tofino Restaurants, Tourism Tofino

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at 7:48 pm and is filed under Events, Tofino Activities, Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.