Restaurants at the Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival include:
Alton’s Kitchen & Cocktails
Brian’s Dog House Grill
Kabutos
Sangam Indian Cuisine
Soulicious Catering

Farmers Market and Vendors at the Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival include:
Earth Fare
Exquisitely Yours by Dalia
Four Seasons of Lake Norman
House of Olives
Kilwin’s Chocolates
Old Store Farmers Market
Strands of Creation
The Meat Center

Angels and Sparrows
http://angelsandsparrows.org/

Angels and Sparrows Soup Kitchen, Inc. was established in July 2007 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation to help fight hunger in Huntersville, the adjacent towns of Cornelius and Davidson, as well as in the unincorporated areas of North Mecklenburg County.

Serving over 22,000 meals in its first year, Angels and Sparrows offers visitors a savory lunch Monday – Friday – all year long — to those in need.

Hope House Foundation
http://www.hopehousefoundation.org/

“The mission of The Hope House Foundation is to nurture the well-being, independence, and faith of women and their children in the Lake Norman area by providing shelter, services and support.”

Situated on four acres in the town of Huntersville, this Lake Norman Area organization provides shelter for adult women and their children. Through Hope House, these women in need are provided social worker services, career support, life skills, and permanent housing alternatives once their stay at Hope House has ended.

The Bin
http://www.the-bin.org/

Established in 2008, The Bin is a volunteer organization established to provide home goods and appliances for families that need a helping hand.
Through community partnerships and collaboration, The Bin is the area’s first furniture clearinghouse was established to accept donations of gently used items, and redirect them to the needy. The Bin is affiliated with the Ada Jenkins Center (AJC) and First Baptist Church, Huntersville.

“I’m pleased to announce that we’re partnering with the North Mecklenburg Rotary for this year’s event,” said Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival Executive Director V. Tom Gardner. “By teaming-up with an organization that has such a large and active membership, I have no doubt that this year we’ll be able to do even more for our local charities.”

The 2011 Festival will again include the Wine Reservoir for wine tastings and Restaurant Galley where local restaurants serve individual portions. Due to logistics and feedback from companies and merchants, the Festival has been reduced to one day and plans to include: live music, an area for local micro brews, and an area for cooking demonstrations and wine lectures.

“Last year’s event was good, but this year’s will be even better,” said North Mecklenburg Rotary Club’s Ken McGrath. “We each bring our own unique strengths to this partnership that will strengthen the entire event; with our manpower and business connections and the Festival’s experience, this year’s event will be an outstanding success.”

Last year’s Festival brought together four major sponsors, six eateries, a dozen merchants, and 13 wineries serving over 60 wines. This resulted in over 1,100 attendees and raised over 750 pounds of food for local charities.

Prospective attendees, as well as vendors, restaurants, and sponsors can get up-to-the-minute information by visiting www.lakenormanwineandfoodfestival.org.

The Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was founded to benefit charities in the Lake Norman area.

The North Mecklenburg Rotary is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping the Lake Norman area charities. It has over 100 members and is part of Rotary International; the world’s first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are business and community leaders who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto “Service Above Self.”

We’ll be announcing the new Festival soon. Stay tuned for updates!

Charlotte Observer
February 27, 2011

CORNELIUS The second annual Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival will be May 14, again at the Kenton Place retail center off West Catawba Avenue.

The nonprofit festival is scheduled a couple of weeks earlier than last year because of other wine events in the state, said Tom Gardner, festival executive director.

Last year’s festival had four major sponsors, six eateries, a dozen merchants and 13 wineries serving about 60 wines, Gardner said. It drew about 1,100 people and raised about 750 pounds of food for festival charities, he said.

The 2011 festival will again include the Wine Reservoir for wine tastings, the Restaurant Galley for local restaurants to serve individual portions and the Merchants Corner for local merchants and artisans to sell their wares.

Because of logistics and feedback from companies and merchants, the festival will be one day only this year. Plans are to add live music and an area for one or two local micro-breweries, Gardner said.

Details: www.lakenormanwineandfoodfestival.org.

The article referenced above can be found on the Charlotte Observer’s website.

“This year’s event was an outstanding success,” said Gardner. “Our inaugural Festival brought together four major sponsors, six eateries, a dozen merchants, and 13 wineries serving over 60 wines. This resulted in over 1,100 attendees and raised over 750 pounds of food for our selected charities.”

The 2011 Festival will again include the Wine Reservoir for wine tastings and Restaurant Galley where local restaurants serve individual portions. Due to logistics and feedback from companies and merchants, the Festival has been reduced to one day and plans to include: live music, an area for local micro brews, and an area for cooking demonstrations and wine lectures.

“We learned a lot from our first event, and look forward to applying this new knowledge toward a bigger and better Festival that will help local charities by raising more money and food for those in need,” concluded Gardner.

We’re already working on the 2011 Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival that will be held:
Saturday, May 14, 2011, in Cornelius, N.C.

So mark your calendars, and get ready for a bigger and better Festival. Registration and additional information will be available on the website later this month.

Join us this Saturday and Sunday at Kenton Place in Cornelius (just down the road from Birkdale), and with your Wine Tent Admission (includes general admission) you can try wines from Round Peak, Dobbins Creek, Shadow Springs and Shelton — just to name a few.

We have plenty of european varietals, and some sweet wines too!

So come and visit us this weekend, help support three deserving charities, and enjoy some of the region’s best food and wine!

Saturday, June 5 – 10:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 6 – Noon until 6:00 p.m.

General Admission = $9*
Wine Tent = $19* (Includes general admission)
* $2 discount if you bring a canned good. One per person.