History
Wine in the Woods has become one of the premiere events in the region and a source of pride for Howard County. For well over 15 years, the entire department of Howard County Recreation and Parks works together as a team every year to produce this event. Voted Best Outdoor event by Columbia Magazine in 1997 and 1998 and awarded Best Annual Festival in Howard County by Howard Magazine in 2009, it has become a coveted tradition and a mainstay for the local community and beyond, becoming a sparkling tourist attraction that brings visitors from far and wide. How did Wine in the Woods become this triumphant jubilee?
In 1990 the great success of the Carroll County Wine festival over its five years of operation inspired Paul Farragut, then a County Councilman for District 4 in Columbia, to convince colleagues that a Wine Festival might be a good tourism event for Howard County. This idea was shared with the administration who then requested the Department of Recreation and Parks investigate the possibility of Howard County hosting a wine festival.
The first step was to make sure the appropriate legal channels were pursued. Legislation had to be passed regarding the sale and distribution of wine within the county, so the Howard County Delegation put together a bill that would allow a wine festival and its activities to be conducted in Howard County. Once this legislation was passed in April of 1991, members of the Department of Recreation and Parks began the planning for Wine in the Woods. At that time, Gary Arthur, Bureau Chief of Recreation for Howard County organized a team of staff members to plan this event. Mr. Arthur chose Joanne Moroney, the Special Event Coordinator for the Department of Recreation and Parks at that time, to lead the wine festival team. Ms. Moroney worked on the logistics of the actual event while Gary Arthur worked on the contractual arrangements, wineries, and the vendors. It was not too long until they realized that they might have a very popular event, based on the support and input they had received from various sponsors such as Patuxent Publishing, Channel 45, and several Baltimore radio stations. At that time, there was very little money for marketing and supplies to conduct such a large event; so the department decided that it had to front the money out of the self-sustaining account in anticipation of a successful event .
At that point, we had the legislation, the team, a general plan, and funds to get started. But we still had to select a date and location so scheduling and searching for the right property was the next priority. There were several other events within the department and around the county we had to work around to avoid conflicts and after some research and deliberation, it was decided that the weekend after Mother’s Day would be the best time to conduct this event. After an analysis of the park property that was available to the wine in the woods team at that time, it was decided that a private venue, which offered the maximum parking needed, might be more suitable for the operation of the festival. With the attendance numbers that the Carroll County wine festival had achieved it was hoped that at some point those numbers could also be achieved in Howard County. Therefore, we knew we needed a venue that parked about 10,000 cars. The only venue that actually supports those types of numbers was the Mall in Columbia, but this was ruled out because of the potential interference with the Mall’s businesses. The only other location that could handle that kind of attendance was Merriweather Post Pavilion with its long history and tradition of large crowds visiting their concerts and events. However, after the team met with the venue’s manager, Jean Parker, they realized what the cost of renting the stage at Merriweather, and its accommodations, would be impossible, so we pursued a lease of the grounds outside of the actual Merriweather Post Pavilion, Symphony Woods, from The Columbia Association instead. However, arrangements have been made to use the Merriweather parking lot every year.
Jeff Bourne and Gary Arthur met with Padriac Kennedy, President of the Columbia Association, asking them for the use of the grounds for the festival. It was agreed that Symphony Woods would be the location and if there was any disturbance of the woods by vehicles or large crowds, the Department of Recreation and Parks would be responsible for renovating the grounds. This was a more affordable and cost-effective choice and the parking lot of Merriweather Post Pavilion, adjacent to Symphony Woods, could be used once the venue was established.
So the location of the festival was established along with the date, participating wineries, vendors, and several sponsors who provided marketing of the event. At that point, there were 10 wineries interested in the event but there was still a question if all 10 would show up for the scheduled wine festival event. An event that still didn’t have a name – yet. So at this stage of the planning, a naming survey was put out to the recreation staff for a catchy meaningful title; one that would capitalize on its marketability. Since the location was at Symphony Woods, it quickly became clear that “Wine in the Woods” was the right choice. So we proceeded with the marketing of the event utilizing Patuxent Publishing’s eight community newspapers throughout the metropolitan area and the ten wineries utilized their distributors of their wines to market the event as well.
We were then able to concentrate on the actual logistics of the festival. There was no electric or water or pathways established in the woods and this meant that the Bureau of Parks would have to create these amenities each year for the event. Department electrician, Mike Peach, coordinated with BGE to give us an excellent price for a transformer to be placed into Symphony Woods. This required the approval of The Columbia Association’s Architectural Committee for its placement. This turned out to be harder than anticipated and after several tries we finally agreed upon a design for the electric installation.
The placement of the wine tents became the next key issue. They are typically 30 x 30 or 40 x 40 feet and needed to be centralized within the woods so all visitors would have visibility of, and access to, all the wineries. With so many trees in the woods and environmental areas it was difficult to locate a large open area for 10 wineries, the anticipated 50-60 crafters, and the 10 restaurants that were going to make up the planned Wine in the Woods festival. Gary Arthur and the Bureau of Parks worked closely with the wineries to make sure there was a suitable location for each winery and ensure that the grounds were preserved as best as they could.
The first few years of the Wine in the Woods festival required a lot of patience and flexibility while we learned “on the job” making adjustments along the way, and as needed, for this new venture. For example, the team was very cautious in caring for the grounds and protecting the natural environment. Staff did whatever was needed to prevent and/or repair the grounds and protect the wooded area. Many went out of their way or did extra work to stop the natural environment from being damaged by large trucks or restaurant equipment.
Ticket pricing was another learning experience. It became clear very early on that the handling of money and making change was going to be a challenge. The first year we charged $12.50 and we soon realized that the $12.50 was a mistake. Making change became a challenge and soon we did not have enough $1’s or $5’s to keep the lines moving. Long lines formed from waiting for the cash to be counted out for the customer’s change. Administrative Analyst, Ken Webster, was responsible for managing the entry gate with the help of Recreation Sports Manager, Mark Pendelton. The increasing frequent requests to Gary Arthur for more change resulted in a trip to the Mall, visiting store after store trying to find enough change for the event. This occurred for two years in a row and then the price was changed to $15, which eliminated most of our cash handling problems.
After facing all the challenges, details, and planning it takes to put on this kind of event, there is one obstacle we can never escape from: Mother Nature. While spring in Maryland can often be the most beautiful time of the year, it has also become the most unpredictable. Native Marylanders know all too well that anything is possible in May: from hot and sunny to cold and rainy. The first Wine in the Woods ended up probably being the worst one we have had in its 15+ year history as far as the weather is concerned. Both days started off very nice, but ended up dark and wet. Saturday turned to chaos because of severe thunderstorms coming into the area at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. An attempt to evacuate the approximately 6,000 people in Symphony Woods was made, but not everyone left the grounds. Eventually the storm subsided; but everything was drenched and people ended up walking around in mud the rest of the day. The same type of storm occurred on Sunday, but it occurred just when the event was closing so the wine trucks ended up getting stuck in the mud when they tried to load the remainder of their wine from the tents onto their trucks and exit Symphony Woods. The grounds were left a mess but our Natural Resources Division, along with several contractors, did a fantastic job in restoring the woods and by the following March Symphony Woods could not have been in better shape for our 2nd annual Wine in the Woods. It proceeded to rain at least one of the days of the festival for the next four years, but the event carried on. The weather continues to be an unpredictable factor but we keep going year after year. Afterall, the show must go on!
By the third year, Barbara Lett took over as the Festival Chair and we continued to see it grow and evolve. The fifth and sixth Wine in the Woods demonstrated what the potential of this event could be when Mother Nature smiled on us with great weather on both days. The event attendance averaged about 7,500 people each day. We knew that if we could get the good weather, this event could continue to grow in popularity because of the time of year, the attractive location of our event, and adequate distance / proximity from other wine festivals in Maryland. In 2006, it was evident that with good weather our numbers could exceed 18,000 people. After Barbara Lett’s retirement, Mary Ellen Baker took over as Special Events Manager and Festival Chair for 2007 and Wine in the woods welcomed 20,000 people thru its gates. As the event attendance grows, so does the need for staff, entertainers, and volunteers which has led us to exceed 27,000 attendees in 2009. We continue to plan and prepare for the ever-increasing attendance of future festivals.
As interest in the festival grew, so did participation from the wineries. To help us facilitate the growing interest from the wineries, the Maryland Winery Association has played a large role in coordinating and serving as a liason between the department and the individual wineries. Participation from Maryland Wineries has grown from 10 in 1992 to 29 in 2009.
One of the most attractive components of this festival is the entertainment. Since its inception, Wine in the Woods has brought high quality performers to the event. Each year our customers enjoy photo opportunities with entertainers such as Living statues, wandering performers, and face painting artists. Popular Local and Regional professional musicians and bands including Deanna Bogart , Damon Foreman, and the Crawdaddies have graced the Main stage at Wine in the Woods numerous times. The music has become such an integral part of the vent, that a second stage was added in 2005. And to accommodate our increasing crowds, the site was expanded in 2009 to accommodate more picnic areas and the fans who enjoy dancing in front of the newly titled second “Vignette” stage.
Renovation of Symphony Woods has occurred 14 times and the process becomes better and better and more efficient each year. There are a number of issues in renovating the grounds: getting grass to grow in the shade is paramount, along with the re-establishment of proper drainage, and grading of the site. We continue our efforts to care for the land every year and work alongside the Columbia Association to repair and maintain the property.
What is the future of Wine in the Woods? Recent news releases have informed the public that plans are under way to renovate and alter Symphony Woods into a park. Will this affect or change the festival in some way? Yes, however the festival will go on as scheduled at the same location for 2010, and county officials are working with the Columbia Association on ways to accommodate future changes to the site and the festival. For more information on the plans for “Symphony Woods Park in Columbia Town Center” you can view the CA website.
We look forward to many more years of Wine in the Woods!
