Charleston Wine and Food Festival Attendee Experience: What It’s Like on the Other Side

After eight years of running it, I finally got to experience the Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience firsthand — and here is exactly what I found.

Originally March 11, 2014

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The number one question I got asked all weekend was some version of the same thing: what is it like being on the other side? So rather than answer it a hundred more times individually, here it is — my ten most honest reflections on the Charleston Wine + Food Festival attendee experience after spending eight years on the completely opposite side of it. Spoiler: the Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience is even better than I imagined, and I imagined it pretty well.

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The Charleston Wine and Food Festival Attendee Experience, Point by Point

1. It was genuinely, completely great. Anyone who saw me this weekend already knows this. I was not stressed. I was not managing anything. I did exactly what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, and with whoever I wanted to do it with. I had always been told the Festival was a great time from the attendee side — I can now confirm that firsthand and without any qualification whatsoever. The Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience is everything it is cracked up to be.

2. My heart was with the staff. I wasn’t itching to jump in and fix things — I really wasn’t — but when the weather turned cold and rainy during setup, I genuinely felt for the team. Randi Weinstein and Sara Donahue work relentlessly all year to build a plan and create the best possible events, and having to execute in cold, muddy, miserable conditions turns all of that careful planning into a logistical nightmare — literally. They did not flinch. They worked through it, made it all come together, and reminded me exactly why they are the best in the business. Event production in difficult weather requires a specific kind of toughness, and those two have it in abundance.

3. I was there to celebrate, not to critique. A surprising number of people approached me looking for criticism — wanting me to weigh in on what wasn’t working or to validate their complaints. That was not what I was there for. Sure, there are always things to refine in any event of this scale, but the overall picture was another extraordinary year for Charleston’s culinary community. I was there to celebrate that. Full stop.

4. Being publicly recognized meant more than I expected. New Festival director Gillian Zettler mentioned my name and the work I had done over eight years in a speech during the weekend — and I want to say publicly how much that meant to me. Being acknowledged for building something from the ground up, in a genuine and gracious way, is not something you take for granted. It was a proud moment and I am deeply grateful for it. Recognition in professional transitions matters more than most people realize.

5. The fringe events are genuinely spectacular. This was my biggest personal revelation from the Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience — I had no idea how many unofficial and fringe events existed around the main programming, or how extraordinary they were. The majority of my weekend schedule was built around these gatherings, and they were honestly some of the best events I have attended in Charleston in years. If you are planning to attend the Festival and haven’t explored the fringe programming, start there immediately.

6. The freedom is everything. Doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with whoever I wanted — I know I already said this, but it bears repeating. For someone who spent eight years managing every detail of this weekend for everyone else, the personal freedom of the attendee experience was something close to euphoric. I loved every single second of it.

7. Early morning events are harder than they look. Festival events should not start before 10:00 AM. I am putting that out there as someone who scheduled many of those early events and now deeply regrets it. Three consecutive days of early starts — attended with genuine enthusiasm and a real smile — is a significant ask of any human being. Now that I have lived the Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience from the other side, I have a renewed and very specific empathy for everyone who showed up bright-eyed at 8:00 AM. The bags under the eyes are real and they are earned.

8. The volunteers are extraordinary. Running into so many familiar volunteer faces over the weekend was one of the genuine highlights of my entire Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience. The kindness, the warmth, the things people said to me — I had not fully realized how many real connections I had made over eight years until I saw them all in one weekend. Volunteer communities built around shared passion create bonds that outlast any job title or organizational role, and I felt that completely.

9. I missed my ticketing team. Not the wristbands. Not the scanners. Not a single logistical moment of it — but LK, Paul, and Kim? Absolutely. Genuinely. Seeing them and not having the time together that we used to share hit me in a way I didn’t expect. They are, without question, the bomb. Drop it like it’s hot.

10. A golf cart remains non-negotiable. The Charleston Wine and Food Festival attendee experience is significantly enhanced by access to a golf cart — I will stand behind that statement completely. The ability to move efficiently between events with a full crew of friends in tow is invaluable. I walked away from the weekend with a considerable amount of swag, three new umbrellas, and one parking ticket. Worth every bit of it.

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What the Charleston Wine and Food Festival Attendee Experience Confirmed

Being on the other side of the Festival did two very clear things simultaneously: it confirmed completely that leaving was the right decision, and it made me more proud than ever to have been part of building something so genuinely important for this city.

Charleston’s culinary identity has been shaped meaningfully by this Festival, and being able to stand in the middle of it — not as the person responsible for making it run, but as someone who helped build the foundation it runs on — was a feeling I will carry for a long time.

Here’s to another extraordinary year in 2015.

With a golf cart full of friends and three spare umbrellas, Angel

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Learn more about Angel Holmes and everything she’s passionate about at sipindipity.com/angel-holmes.