According to the Disney Parks Blog, Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival will not be held in 2011 and 2012. This decision is due to the significant construction happening in Disney California Adventure over the next two years and the difficulty it presents for an event like the Food & Wine Festival.
This festival, which just celebrated its 5th year in 2010, was much loved by Disneyland devotees and Disney food fans the world over. And after five years of climbing the ranks of American food festivals, bringing some incredible celebrity names to the table, and delivering what I felt was a very special event that only a place like Disneyland could produce (i.e. it was hip), I’m sad to hear that it will be postponed (just postponed, right, Disneyland? I know you didn’t say for sure it was coming back, but it is, right? It is???).
My feeling when I visited the festival in 2010 was that Disneyland had gained a lot of ground over the past five years and was poised to grow the Food and Wine Festival into an even bigger success. I’m very sorry to hear that the potential is now there to lose ground on the progress and traditions that they’ve made, but I also know that Disneyland clientele will welcome the festival back with open arms if and when it re-appears.
I know I’ll be there.
In the meantime, you can check out our coverage from Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival 2010 here.