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On Saturday, October 29th, the Bahamas National Trust will open its gates for the 21st Annual Wine and Art Festival. The Annual Festival features over 50 talented artists , a selection of over 50 wines from Bristol Wines and Spirits and a new feature this year a wine and food pairing area sponsored by the Min-istry of Tourism’s Culinary Tourism Division.

BNT members will get a special preview of the art and a chance to bid on unique marine themed silent auction items at the Wishing Fish Auction on Fri-day evening, October 28th. This special evening for BNT members is spon-sored by Gourmet Market and Food Art by Cacique and Bristol Wines and Spirits. “We are extremely grateful to our sponsors” said Eric Carey, BNT Ex-ecutive Director. “Their support allows to show our appreciation for our members at this special evening. The Wishing Fish Auction provides artists with the opportunity to design and decorate wooden fish in their own unique style. All proceeds from the auction will be used in support of the BNT’s marine conservation initiatives.”

“The Wine and Art Festival provides Bristol Wines and Spirits with a great opportunity to introduce the public to new wines that we will be offering this holiday season, commented Rusty Scates , Wine Manager for Bristol Wines and Spirits. Patrons attending the Festival this year will have an opportunity to taste Asti Winery’s Cellar 8 range of wines with the Chardonnay and Zinfandel begin featured, Pine and Post Wines from Washington State featuring a Riesling and Merlot and Flip Flop Wines from California offering their Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. One of the special features of the Wine and Art Festival is special guests from the participating wineries. This year Julian Inarra from the Trivento Winery in Argentina will be on hand to discuss the wines produced by his winery.

A new feature at this year’s Wine and Art Festival will be a food and wine pairing demonstration sponsored by the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism’s Culinary Tourism Division. Featuring three of the finest Chef’s in the Bahamas, all members of the Bahamas Culinary Association, the area will help you learn what wine should be served with what dish. Jamal Small, Team Captain of the National Culinary team 2011, and Private Chef in the Exuma Cays will feature a Cassava Gnocchi with roasted root vegetables in a fennel cream sauce, Emmanuel Gibson, National Culinary Team, from the One & Only Ocean Club will demonstrate a fish dish – Plantain crusted Grouper and Alexandra Maillis Lynch, Alexandra’s Catering and August Moon will guide attendees through the process of Roasting a Pig in Plantain Leaf. Local produce will be featured in each recipe in conjunction with BAIC, all ingredients will be lo-cally grown, inclusive of the grouper and the pig.

A number of well known caterer’s and restaurants will be providing food throughout the day: Gourmet Markets and Food Art by Cacique; August Moon Café; Konfetti Kreations; Glori-ous Foods , Citrus Catering and a special booth featuring Haagen- Dazs Ice Cream.

“ We are once again thrilled to have many outstanding artists participating in the Festival” said Lynn Gape , Deputy Executive Director of the BNT. New Artists participating this year are Judith Papillon, Tori Hermann, Kandice Eldon, Candis Marshall, Morgan McKinney and Shelby Knowles. “ We also have a large contingent from Abaco traveling to be with us this year, “ said Gape. “We are very happy to have Kim Rody, Jo-ann and Peter Bradley, Marjolein Scott, Jeep Beyers and Bob Zwickel joining us again this year.” Annual favorites will also be participating and patrons will have a chance to visit with Thierry Lamare, Jonathon Bethel , Toby Lunn , John Paul, Trevor Tucker, Marco Mullings, Nicole Angelica Malcolm Rae, Tiffany Barrett , Peter Otim Angole and Imogene Walkine.
 
According to Lynn Gape the festival began 21 years ago with just 20 artists and each year it has grown. Today, the festival features over 50 artists and is a great place to see a variety of artistic styles. Many me-diums are represented and not surprisingly the Bahamian environment is the subject of many of the paintings. The BNT’s Wine and Art Festival is a great event to learn about wine and view wonderful art, so be sure an attend this very special event, Saturday, October 29th , 12 noon to 6 pm at The Retreat on Village Road, BNT Members $15 and General Public $20. All proceeds support the national park system of The Bahamas.

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