The Martha's Vineyard Food and Wine Festival begins Thursday, Oct. 19 and includes more than 20 events, nearly double the number of last year.

Sam Decker is the sommelier and beverage director at Atria in Edgartown, and one of three wine personalities to face off Oct. 17 at the Sommelier Throw Down!

The Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival has announced a new festival director. AJ Williams takes over the festival started by the Edgartown Board of Trade to enhance tourism on the Vineyard in the off-season.

Nathan Gould is on a mission to prove that all hotel food is not created equal. The bland chicken breast is out and a sous vide Good Farm chicken roulade is in.

“We’re continuously moving towards sourcing locally, which a lot of hotels don’t,” Mr. Gould said walking through the doors of the Harbor View Hotel where he is the new executive chef. “A lot of hotels that have to do volume rather than take the time to have a relationship with Island farmers and fishermen, they’ll go to a corporate account and get stuff moved in from wherever. Hopefully, we can change that.”

Wendy Taucher Dance Opera Theatre brings a bit of its fall season to the Island in October. Chef Matthew Passachlacqua collaborates with Ms. Taucher for an evening of food, wine pairings and song at an opera dinner on Saturday, Oct. 19. The event is part of the Martha’s Vineyard Food & Wine Festival and will be held at the Lure Grill at Winnetu in Edgartown. Singers will perform in a cabaret-style setting.

The following week, on Oct. 23, the theatrical group will present Ms. Taucher’s production of Heathcote Williams’s Whale Nation.

The Edgartown selectmen are revisiting plans to have a tent in the parking lot off Kelley street for the Martha’s Vineyard Food and Wine festival after abutters expressed concerns.
In March, the selectmen approved a proposal for the annual festival to move from the Field Club into downtown. But some business owners said they were not notified about the plans, which include tents on Mayhew Lane and closing Kelly street to traffic for three days, from roughly Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 20.

When Labor Day weekend ends and the vast sea of tourists and summer residents begin to trickle home, Island businesses and restaurants feel the pinch. With so much of the Island’s consumer population disappearing, it isn’t always easy to keep turning a profit. For some, the Martha’s Vineyard Food and Wine Festival might be the solution. Established six years ago, the Food and Wine Festival gives restaurants and businesses the chance to continue their commercial success into the shoulder season.

The Martha’s Vineyard Food and Wine Festival fall 2013 festival will take place on Oct. 17 to 20. This year MVFWF is supporting Island Grown Schools.

The festivities begin with Fresh Off the Farm, a special farm-to-table tasting at the agricultural hall in West Tisbury, followed by seminars, food demonstrations and a grand tasting in downtown Edgartown on Mayhew Lane.

Food and Wine Festival Has Legs

This weekend there will be tongues doing the tango all over the Vineyard as the Food and Wine festival lands once again on our shores. Let’s face it, food never appears here in this style of abundant and delicious diversity except for during this annual event.

On Your Mark, Get Set, Eat and Drink

It was Ecclesiastes who said eat, drink and be merry. And who are we to disagree with such a wise scribe. Much better is to take the advice and head over to any or all of the events in store Friday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 16 at the 4th annual Martha’s Vineyard Food and Wine Festival.