Not only is a wine festival coming back to the region, but it’s also being hosted in a sustainable manner.

The first Urban Wine Festival takes place June 28-29, 2019 at Lanspeary Park and will be a celebration of wine.

“Our goal is to ensure that while we’re growing tourism in our region, we’re doing it in a responsible and sustainable manner,” says Adriano Ciotoli, co-owner of WindsorEats.

To do this, WindsorEats is taking steps to help eliminate waste in the lead-up to and during the festival.

A RESPONSIBLE FESTIVAL VENUE

Responsible choices began with the selection of Lanspeary Park as the festival location. Not only did having a central, urban location encourage arrival to the festival via alternative means of transportation like cycling or walking, the venue makes use of solar panels the City of Windsor installed on the roof of the rink shelter.

“We wanted to ensure that attendees had easy access to modes of transportation that didn’t include driving themselves,” Ciotoli states. “Being centrally located in the region’s largest urban centre means easy access to taxis, buses and Uber to ensure they could arrive home safely.”

The covered outdoor rink at Lanspeary Park in Windsor, Ontario. (Photo from City of Windsor)
The covered outdoor rink at Lanspeary Park in Windsor, Ontario. (Photo from City of Windsor)

PAPERLESS DIGITAL TICKETS

Tickets are all digital with no paper waste. Attendees purchase their ticket online and are emailed a “ticket”. Once at the event, all they need to do is show their emailed ticket at the gate. No need to print tickets.

EVEN THE TOKENS ARE DIGITAL

The event will also be “tokenless” which means there will not be a token booth on site. The Urban Wine Fest has partnered with Token Mobile to use their system and eliminate having to stand in line to purchase tokens.

How does it work? Participants visit tokenmobile.ca or go to tokenmobile.ca/download from their mobile device and purchase tokens in advance. If they are at the event and need more tokens, they can simply purchase additional tokens on their phone. It saves time and money by avoiding lineups and ATM fees.

They’ll even be able to view the wine lineup all from their phone. No need to stand in line to buy wristbands and tokens. Token Mobile allows you to view vendors and purchase and redeem tokens right from your phone.

RECYCLABLE CUPS

With glassware not an option on city property due to municipal by-laws, WindsorEats sourced shatterproof recyclable drinkware. This means our drinkware will not only be sustainably sturdy, but also BPA-free.

LOWER CARBON FOOTPRINT

Being held within the rink at Lanspeary Park provides many perks including a shelter to protect from any potential rain while still enjoying the cool summer breeze.

With no major tenting needing to be erected, the festival eliminates the need to truck in tenting and other equipment.

“With a large power source on site, we also do not need to bring in any gas guzzling and fume producing generators,” adds Ciotoli.