There’s always something new at the Adirondack Wine & Food Festival

The first Adirondack Wine & Food Festival, held in 2015, was one of the first major events to fill the new Festival Commons in Charles R. Wood Park. That inaugural year, it hosted more than 40 vendors and was considered a resounding success, drawing a crowd of nearly 3,000. The festival became a premier Lake George event, and except for a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, it returned each year the last weekend in June.

Over the years, the number of vendors tripled. Organizers added a culinary tent with demonstrations and competitions, a beer garden, live entertainment and a kids’ tent with games and crafts. West Brook Road, which runs the length of the Festival Commons, became a food truck alley. The crowds grew to more than 6,000, and now, in its ninth year, the festival continues to offer new and sometimes surprising tastes and experiences.

The 2025 Adirondack Wine & Food Festival, held June 28-29, hosted more than 60 craft beverage producers, including wineries, meaderies, distilleries, cideries, breweries and unique non-alcoholic beverages. Caribbean Hibiscus, Inc. offered samples of sorrel, a drink originating in Africa that has medicinal properties. Dark Hollow Productions’ Witches Brew elixirs offer protection, vitality and more. Hard cider producers have moved well beyond apples, adding new tastes such as lavender and peach.

Besties Beyond the Bookmark and Sweet Kee’s made their debut as vendors at the 2025 festival. Besties is a partnership of best friends and book lovers, Kayla Marcello and Farrah Fogg. They offer “Blind Date with a Book” packages — the title of the book is hidden in a brown wrapper (with goodies attached) and the buyer must decide whether to purchase based on a brief description. Marcello and Fogg have also designed book club journals and reading journals.

Keeva Dedewo, owner and Chief Sweets Officer at Sweet Kees’s, handcrafts cocktail infusions, small-batch jams and artisanal candies.

Under the Culinary Tent, sommelier and wine-maker Courtney Rankin demonstrated wine, cheese, and chocolate pairings, explaining the structure of wine and how she selects for taste and texture. Her audience was offered samples of combinations such as soft maple cheese and barrel-aged port.

The New York Animal Agriculture Coalition brought their Mobile Dairy Experience to the 2025 Wine & Food Festival, which added a county fair-type feel to the event. The exhibit, housed in a 53-foot trailer, featured interactive exhibits that follow the path dairy products take from farm to table. It also included information about animal care, nutrition and sustainability practices in the dairy industry.

The Adirondack Wine & Food Festival is a try-before-you-buy market. A ticket purchase includes a souvenir wine glass that may be used to sample the variety of craft beverages. Artisan food producers offer samples of their cheeses, sauces, dips, and baked goods. Just outside the festival gates, attendees may buy a more substantial meal from a dozen food trucks selling mac and cheese, tacos, gyros and even Brussels sprouts.  

The Adirondack Wine & Food Festival is presented by the Adirondack Winery, which operates a tasting room on Canada Street in Lake George Village and a tasting room in Queensbury that hosts multiple events throughout the year.